AVAWAVES Heartbeat out today
News
AVAWAVES, the international, contemporary virtuoso duo comprising Anna Phoebe and Aisling Brouwer, will release their third studio album, ‘Heartbeat’, on May 9th via One Little Independent Records. A transportive and euphoric meeting of violin, piano, and synth, the LP embraces a fusion of modern composition, ambient, and electronic styles while incorporating the pair’s acclaimed soundtrack work. Thematically, ‘Heartbeat’ represents strength, resolve, and moving forward.
They explain that “the album is about peeling back all the layers we cloak ourselves in until there is nothing left but the source, and discovering the strength that resides there. We wanted this album to feel raw, honest, and intuitive. There are themes of resilience, determination, grit, and an optimism in forever chasing the dawn after dark. It’s the bursting of bubbles and realising how much lighter everything feels without them.”
AVAWAVES are rooted in cinematic narratives, evoking emotional journeys of the heart and mind. They released their debut album, ‘Waves’, in 2019, followed by ‘Chrysalis’ in 2021. Together, they have played festivals around Europe, the Royal Albert Hall and at King’s Place for the award-winning podcast The Guilty Feminist. They also composed the original score for Savage Waters, a feature documentary narrated by Charles Dance. An intimate portrait of modern adventurers, it follows clues left in a 19th-century treasure-hunter’s journal that inspire a captivating journey to seek out and surf a mythical, never-ridden wave in some of the most remote and dangerous waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The score won Best Original Soundtrack at the 2022 Richard Harris International Film Festival.
Last year, AVAWAVES composed the score for The Buccaneers, which featured original songs produced by Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa. The Apple TV+ drama series also featured a star-studded tracklist, including Sharon Van Etten, Miya Folick, Gracie Abrams, Breymer, and more.
Aisling Brouwer is a Dutch/Irish film composer and producer who scored the BIFA-nominated anti-racist feature White Riot and soundtracked films like Lioness, Super Greed and Sky’s true-crime thriller The Child In The Box. Her projects have screened at film festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes, Berlinale, and Venice, as well as on major broadcasters such as the BBC, Netflix, Apple, and Amazon Prime. She has also worked on campaigns for the United Nations and Dior. Aisling is drawn to scoring stories of resilience and high intensity, darker narratives.
Anna Phoebe is an award-winning composer and violinist who likes to break new ground with cross-genre projects. She has recorded and toured globally with multi-platinum selling bands, composed music for Royal Ballet School, European Space Agency and Cancer Research UK and earlier in 2024 she performed with Mary Anne Hobbs for 6 Music Festival, opening for The Smile. Anna co-presents BBC Radio 4’s Add To Playlist and is a regular guest on BBC 6 Music’s Roundtable. She is a board director for the Ivors Academy and an ambassador for Young Voices. Anna also features in Yasmin Alibhai-Brown's 2020 book Ladies Who Punch.
New album ‘Heartbeat’ was produced and mixed with TJ Allen (Bat For Lashes, Portishead, Hannah Peel, Anna Calvi) and features vocals from Imogen Williams of Imogen and the Knife. This release marks a significant musical evolution for the duo, incorporating their soundtrack experience and returning to the collaborative process that shaped their debut record. AVAWAVES’ creative approach is grounded in live performance, crafting compositions by immersing themselves in the emotions of the space - a process challenged by lockdowns and physical distance. Drawing inspiration from visual elements, the duo creates soundscapes that evoke colours, scenes, and stories, akin to scores for an imaginary film. Anna and Aisling believe instrumental music provides a universal language that invites listeners to engage fully, embracing vulnerability and heightened individual emotions. For them, this openness to interpretation is where true meaning lies.
The opening title track ‘Heartbeat’ is an awakening. Immediately mesmerising and technically expansive, it’s about “the start of the day, resolution and resolve, an aching heart longing to lay its soul bare and share its innermost feelings. It’s about daring to be vulnerable.”
The exquisite ‘Earth’ began life as a studio jam and evolved into a lush expression of determination. The follow-up, ‘Bones’, with its repetition and hypnotic crescendos, reflects the cycles and patterns of creativity. “It’s the days you’re going through the motions on autopilot and feel like you’re pretending to be human the best you can. It’s got a dark undertone that feels like Alice in Wonderland being drawn into a dark forest.”
‘Mood’ is more introspective, an evocative soundscape that’s reflective and immersive. “When you feel a storm brewing inside and frustrations are coming to the surface that can no longer be pushed down or ignored. Instead of dismissing them, you lean in to listen. It’s watching someone’s true colours appear while you’re observing them from afar.”
Undulating synths and otherworldly, siren-like vocals build gradually to form ‘Escape’, a daydream and corner-turning moment of colourful clarity. ‘Nightdrive’ features fluid, electronic beats that propel the composition forward, creating momentum and carrying it into new spaces surrounded by a sense of wonder and expectation.
A feeling of contentment and being present in the moment characterises ‘Rumour’, while the highlight ‘Sleep Tight’ navigates love and loss. Imogen Williams takes centre stage on the album’s only overtly lyrical song, about “saying goodbye to someone you love, reassuring yourself that they will never truly leave you.”
As the ‘Heartbeat’ journey comes to an end, ‘Raindrop’ offers a moment for meditation, a contemplative, violin-led sonic wind-down. However, the finale, ‘Crush’, is something of a restart. Across a collection of cerebral classical electronica, listeners are invited to surrender to the ebb and flow of a dramatic musical and emotional odyssey. ‘Crush’ finds a band reborn to dancefloor elation. “You’re ready for anything!” they say. “You’ve worked through all your self-doubt, your fears, and you’re feeling stronger than ever, empowered, and ready to start something new."
