The self-titled album can be a pivotal turn for musicians. For better or worse it is seen as the artist staking their claim to their own identity and Prince Edward Island-based powerhouse Andrew Waite has stepped off the reddish sands to dive into these waters with his newest release, but with a more selfless style than one would imagine.
As Waite explains, “This album was a departure from how my previous records were produced and recorded. This one differed as I opted to fully hand over the reins to my producer, Chris Kirby.”
It’s easy to forget that your favourite artists are not entirely creations of their own mind and Waite’s self-titled album highlights how a musician can find themselves best with the help of partners or a team that are on the same page.
“It was just a different process than I’ve used in the past,” says Waite. “I usually head into the studio with the songs and arrangements very much worked out before we’re in there. There is of course still a lot of magic that happens in the studio. This time around, I sent Chris a bunch of songs or ideas for songs months before we started into the record. I tossed a couple of guitars in the car without really knowing what exactly we were going to track, and I left for Nova Scotia. We narrowed down the list and started ripping the songs apart. There are a couple of songs on the album that came from a single line of a song I had sketched out, that we re-wrote entirely.”
The resulting album finds Waite exploring life in a wholeheartedly honest, sincere tone that evokes the thoughts of your undebatable yet insightful albeit very debatably tipsy uncle or cousin at family gatherings; perfectly traversing the lines between wisdom, withdrawal, and wildly willful thoughts.
His wisdom strikes hardest when it comes to relationships in what can only be called an almost apprehensive anthem for the Tinder generation. Waite puts forth an equally catchy and cautionary tale of modern love on “Full Time, Time Tryin’ 2 Luv” as he dissects the current state of seeking a soulmate. He playfully yet poignantly plays on gender tendencies while contrasting the general female efforts to find a “Hollywood-be saviour” to meet their Disney ideals versus the typical male’s efforts to add as many notches to their bedposts as possible, “Can’t conquer your regrets with sexual conquests”.
Andrew serves as the voice of reason we should have but nonetheless not one of us listened to in our younger ages. “Call Me in the Morning” drops some absolutely imperative knowledge regarding when we should all just shut the hell up and offer to let people in our life check-in when things are settled. While “Silence” is more centred on finding one’s own safe space.
“Silence is written from a more personal point of view,” explains Waite. “The singer is essentially singing to a sort of personified version of silence; a personal safe space of sorts. I have my own struggles with social/performance anxiety, and the song certainly is rooted there.”
Waite’s concerned degrees of detachment are highlighted on the two blatantly social issues songs on the set, “Numb” and “World’s Burning Down”.
“The headlines at the time were pretty hard to look at,” Waite comments. “Racially charged violence, severe atrocities coming into focus from our Indigenous communities, and Trump all over the news pouring gas on the fire any chance he got. I recall talking about how it can be so easy to want to shut it off, and how so many people don’t have that option at all because it is literally the world they live in every single day. That’s where ‘Numb’ came from.
“It’s important that we don’t look away, that we listen to the stories we’re hearing from marginalized communities, and work toward making a better and more just world. Worlds Burning Down is reflecting a bit on the political situation at the time in the US, and I suppose how certain media outlets were springing the narrative.
“The last line in the chorus, “I won’t be taking the blame” is the singer declaring a choice not to stand with that right-wing movement.”
Waite unintentionally hits the median for many among us in that the current world circumstances can seem overwhelming and almost paralyzing, yet we can’t turn a blind eye to what is happening around us each day.
The surging underlying theme of the album is that aforementioned and driving willfulness that pulses throughout the album. It delves into topics that aren’t exactly hopeful (lost or doomed love on “Best I Ever Had” or the political rigmarole on “Numb,” but an ever-present groundswell of hope and enthusiasm permeates Andrew Waite by Andrew Waite. He’s hopeful and we all can be too.