Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor relocated to Matthew E White’s Spacebomb Studios in Virginia to make their fourth album. While escaping familiar locations has served to align their sound with world-weary Americana – enhanced here by White’s in-house band – there is something amiss: the friction that once made their music blossom has gone. After their last album set out some lofty ambitions, this one feels like a creative plateau. Album closers Let the Blade Do the Work and One Day All of This Won’t Matter Anymore provide the right balance of pop romance and crooked storytelling; while heartache and an endearing comedic narrative still shape their lyrics, sometimes the country crooning leans into boozy bar karaoke – or floats, coasts and billows past without making any real connection. Warm and nourishing, but bereft of an artistic statement, In Waves feels like a musical stop gap – a temporary vacation rather than a home.
