Wayside

Sept 20, 2023 - Out November 10, 2023 from Wayside comes What Does Your Soul Look Like, a mesmerizing statement of an album from the duo of Thomas Davenport and Josh Ehmer. Brought to life with Grammy-nominated producer Will Yip (Code Orange, Title Fight), the album blurs the lines between ethereal, soft shoe gaze and intense post-hardcore and grunge.

Compared to their critically-acclaimed 2021 debut Shine Onto Me, What Does Your Soul Look Like shifts their perspective; it's both heavier and softer, more experimental and more pop-structured than anything Wayside has attempted before. It's a record that drifts between genre lines, pushing and pulling until the opposite sounds merge into something entirely their own. It's true across each song released from the album so far ––including "Parallax Error," "Asymmetry," and "Proud Of You"––and it's especially apparent on their new track out today, "Safe Forever."

Sonically, there are moments on "Safe Forever" that are heavier than anything Wayside has made before, borrowing elements from the nu-metal they both grew up loving. Fitting, as it explores the premature loss of a loved one battling illness for years, but for Davenport, the only way to make peace with that was knowing that they'd no longer be in pain. "We wanted the verses and choruses to almost feel relieving, as atmospheric and dreamy as possible," he explains. "Finally somewhere safe."