Circa Waves - Death & Love (2025)

The nine-track collection, which includes singles ‘Like You Did Before’, ‘We Made It’, and ‘Let’s Leave Together’, was self-produced by frontman Kieran Shudall and engineered by Matt Wiggins, known for his work with Adele, Lana Del Rey, and Glass Animals.

Both terrifying and liberating to write, Death & Love Pt.1 is an urgent, 9-track hit of cathartic guitar-pop, serving as a powerful coping mechanism to help process frontman Kieran Shudall’s near-death experience.

Back in early 2023, Kieran received a call from doctors to say that the main artery in his heart was severely blocked. Two days later, he was lying on an operating table watching a wire being inserted into his heart to fix it. What followed was the cancelling of a lot of shows, working out a lot of medication, and most crucially, now having to navigate a new way of life.

“I needed this record to process what I went through. A letter to tell myself I would stick around,” Kieran explains. “Most of all, I wanted to make a record for me, with music I love and hopefully music to make kids in their bedroom pick up a guitar and believe they can take on the fucking world.”

And the results are quite simply stunning. Self-produced by Kieran, and engineered by Matt Wiggins (Adele, Lana Del Rey, Glass Animals), the nine tracks that make up Death & Love Pt.1 ooze nostalgia, and hark back to the sounds and themes that made Shudall want to pick up a guitar in the very first place.

Tracks like the exploding album opener ‘American Dream’ lay the record’s hopeful foundations, with ‘Le Bateau’ – named after a Liverpool club – recalls euphoric, youthful nights out, and the laid back ‘Hold It Steady’ & ‘Blue Damselfly’ showcasing the album’s more emotional themes. ‘We Made It’ oozes with Shudall’s hope and optimism, and ‘Let’s Leave Together’ is a future hit-in-waiting, joining ‘Like You Did You Before’ in two stand out tracks that have infectious hooks, huge choruses running through their hearts and are set to blow the roof off venues on next year’s tour.

Circa Waves was formed in Liverpool in May 2013 by Kieran Shudall. After writing a batch of songs and putting some demos online, he recruited second guitarist Joe Falconer, bassist Sam Rourke, and drummer Sian Plummer (replaced by Colin Jones in 2015).

"A band at the peak of their powers, Circa Waves have delivered something truly special with 'Death & Love Pt. 1'. It’s an album about fear and survival, loss and love, past and future—all wrapped up in the kind of guitar-pop brilliance that makes you want to turn the volume all the way up. This is a battle cry, a love letter, and an open heart all at once. And as they prepare to bring these tracks to life on stage, one thing is clear: Circa Waves are far from finished. In fact, they’re just getting started." (Chris Bound, mysticsons.com)

TRACKLIST

1. Alex Engel;Bull & Bazz;Aileen Sager - Baila
2. Thekentyp;Lisa Lain - Kleiner Astronaut
3. Die Triolen - Auf kurz oder lang
4. Peter Milski;Paul Macke;Pia Sangria - Heimspiel
5. Desiree Hansen - Weg nach Arenal
6. Aileen Sager - Stadt, Land, Kuss
7. Stefan von BierKeller - Baby ist es ok?
8. Luxusproblem;HackeDicht - Ich packe meinen Koffer (HackeDicht Remix)
9. DJ Restlezz;Cloud Seven;Kathi Basmathi - Atlantis (Remix)
10. DJ Suni;Chrissi Denk - Heute bin ich heiß
11. Kevin Peters - Lieschen Lieschen (Mallorcastyle Version)
12. Der Schmittiii - Säulen aus Athen
13. DJ Dirk;Mika Malle;DJ Spotti;DJ Pascal Freerks;DJ Jule - Oberbayern
14. Karl König - Pizza, Pasta & Amore
15. Pia Sangria - Prost auf uns
16. Antitranspiranti;DJ Balleton;DJ Fabi Fiesta - Liebespionier (Remix)
17. Palmo;Tobi Torpedo;DJ This is Nuts!;FABBEL - Heute brennt der Club (This is Nuts! Remix)
18. Joepro - An unserer Playa
19. Klaus Hanslbauer;DJ Fabi Fiesta - Finanzamt (DJ Fabi Fiesta Remix)
20. Twobeers - Joana
21. DJ Chris Caramello - Trinkgymnastik
22. Palmo;DJ This is Nuts! - Mallefiziert (DJ This is Nuts! Remix)
23. Malleboyz - Mallestars
24. Stefan von BierKeller - Meer & Amore
25. Julia Holz - Heut Nacht sind wir frei
26. Aileen Sager - Nicht ich