Com Truise – Wave 1
Ghostly: 2014
Com Truise is a giver, at the very least. He might not have released a full-length of new material since 2011’s Glactic Melt, but his output since then has included an EP, a great many remixes and now this, a new 7-track EP christened Wave 1.
Moreover, he gives his fans what they want. He is, appropriately, consistent, which is the primary Achilles heel of this new release. Com Truise crafts polite, unobtrusive electronica; he has a sound that is undeniably pleasant and quite clearly very considered and deliberate. Every snare snaps where it should, each synth line asserts itself at just the right time and for just long enough, and each aching melody feels articulate and easy.
This is nowhere better evidence than on the opening title track. After a studiously jittery opening, any semblance of awkwardness falls away to make room for an effortlessly sleek bassline and simple, reverbed guitar motif. It’s rich with melody and, like everything on Wave 1, thick with purposeful pulse.
It’s undeniably pretty, but it also suffers from the same problem that plagues a lot of modern electronic music with an ear facing towards pop; it just isn’t particularly exciting. Wave 1 is a streamlined, well executed piece of peppy electronica, but the tracks that follow it simply breeze by if you don’t concentrate hard enough.
“Miserere Mei” tries hard with its propulsive drums, and “Valis Called Control” is nicely layered and spacious, but they are also both nondescript. It takes “Subsonic” to snap you back in to the EP’s orbit. It starts much the same, all solid beats and glittery melodies. But about a minute in the melody contracts, the drums begin to stutter and what’s left is the moment when Wave 1 finally appears to have some bite. By the time the distorted bass kicks in, the track has already effortlessly established itself as the EP’s highlight. It’s an important midway point; a sly, albeit hesitant flipping of the bird in the middle of a set of songs that are a little too polite for their own good.
After this, the rest of the EP is something of a dip, but a dip from a peak high enough to make Wave 1 worthwhile. The one real pop moment here, “Declination”, (the only track to feature a vocalist), is a winner too, a sprightly dancefloor shaker that just outstrips the title track by making its ambitions more apparent. Afterwards, “Mind” and “Wasat” round the whole thing out by returning to the solid, unremarkable pleasantries that characterise the first half.
Wave 1 has its moments, and is by no means a bad release. Nothing here dips below average; the problem is that not much of it transcends that label, either. This is the kind of music that you could safely play around strangers, and even reasonably expect a few of them to ask for the name of the artist. Whether they would pursue it further is another matter.
It’s music for working or walking to. There is potential for Com Truise to make a bit more of a statement next time around; Wave 1’s highpoints attest to that. Hopefully he can take note of the fact that when he pokes out of his warm, fuzzy electro cocoon things tend to work out a bit better.
3 out of 5
You can buy Wave 1 on iTunes.