DEAD WAVES - Abandoned Children

DEAD WAVES: noise-rock outsiders drop the volume and create psych-folk greatness on "Abandoned Children" EP; new track streaming

New York City duo Dead Waves announces the May 27th release of its new EP, Abandoned Children. Its first new work since 2018's God of the Wild album, Abandoned Children is the band's seventh release in all.

Stream the EP's first single, "Torn Sheets" and pre-order the EP (digital and vinyl), here: https://deadwaves.com/album/abandoned-children

Abandoned Children was engineered and mixed by Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans) at B.C. Studio, the legendary recording space in Brooklyn, co-founded by Brian Eno and Bill Laswell, where Bisi has worked and resided since the late 1970s. One track, "Innermost," was produced by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, PJ Harvey).

"They are both people whom we respect and admire, musically and their personality in general," says Dead Waves' Teddy Panopoulos, of Bisi and Van Vugt. "They get where we are going. We like to keep things sounding as real as possible and they help bring that out." The EP was mastered by Kim Rosen (Joe Henry, Billy Bragg).

Abandoned Children is an utterly authentic piece of art that leads and does not follow. A haunting, heartbreaking experience, the EP uses softness as its weapon. As subdued as they are, Dead Waves' fragile guitars and distant vocals are loaded with memories of violence; the songs hit like fragments of past horrors, glimpsed through the fog of decades, or like slippery revelations received and lost within dreams. Through seven tracks, Teddy and his brother Nick conjure quiet intensity that cuts to the bone – a dark mix of psych, folk, and noise-rock.

Speaking about the new EP, Teddy reveals, "It's about feeling empathy for all the abandoned children who feel hopeless in our present day reality. Even if they aren’t abandoned physically, just being abandoned mentally in one way or another, through shitty parents, upbringings, depressing school systems, or a society that doesn't really care about them, or questioning their true selves and feeling isolated and less than what they are."

Early Dead Waves releases, including the Steve Albini-produced Oracles of the Grave/Promise 7", rocked in a heavy-garage fashion, sparking comparisons to Nirvana and Pixies. Over the course of its seven releases, the band has gradually severed ties with rock conventions and blossomed into an unfettered, experimental musical entity. Gone now are the drums and roars, but in this rawer state the music is more powerful than ever. 

Of 2018's God of the Wild album, Burning Ambulance reported: "Bridging the gap between experimental rock and some sort of unknown, barbarous folk music... At times, one can picture Sonic Youth covering Neil Young’s iconic soundtrack for the movie, Dead Man." CVLT Nation proclaimed: "Dead Waves' music is like life itself – heavy, fragile, and full of cosmic pain!"

With Abandoned Children, Teddy and Nick continue marching to their own beat, making music that is soulful and strange and brimming with the confidence of true artists. As Dead Waves' volume continues to drop, its impact continues to soar.

With each release, the brothers' Greek heritage has also become a more significant force in Dead Waves – from the use of a traditional Greek lyre to the lyrical inspirations. "Abandoned Children refers to the hero's origins in Greek mythology," states Teddy. "A number of them were abandoned as children and their lives began in difficulties."

Tracklist:
1) Arcadia
2) Torn Sheets
3) Drinking with Jeff Buckley
4) Innermost
5) Hypnagogia
6) Wake Up in the Night
7) Abandoned Children

Lineup:
Nick Panopoulos - guitar, vocals, percussion
Teddy Panopoulos - lyre, guitar, vocals, bass, percussion

Discography:
Abandoned Children (2022, Entheon Records)
God of the Wild (2018, Entheon Records)
The Great Clock (2017, self-released)
Living Inside (2016, self-released)
Nature (2015, self-released)
Oracles of the Grave/Promise 7" (2014, self-released)
Take Me Away EP (2013, self-released)

Band photo by Jeremy Balderson

Cover art by Ana Belen Ruiz and Dead Waves