Early November 2026 and a different type of wave has been celebrated across the US and the globe – the blue wave of course, and in that same week I became acquainted with Zoe Cure’s beautiful new album – 'Wave'. I loved it from the get-go – from the opening track ‘Homesick for Stars’ about moving home, starting anew – and even though it’s not far from the old house, she’s missing the trees and the stars.
This is an album that gets inside your head, takes up residence and makes for pleasant listening. It is a memorable and softly seismic serenade.
I’ve totally enjoyed the company of this album in the car this past week or so – a welcome antidote to the endless cacophony of talk radio. It is reflective, gentle, and perfectly in tune with these end of autumn, misty mellow mornings and evenings.
It’s hardly surprising then to learn that thematically, her new album ‘draws inspiration from cyclical elements of nature and the cosmos, mirrored in the ever-changing circumstances and inner worlds.’
Tracks like ‘Idleness’ and ‘As sure as the Sun’ reflect the ‘poetic economy of Cure’s lyricism, bearing an intimacy akin to that of Adrianne Lenker’s solo work. For me, it was Laura Marling that came to mind. ‘Try Not to Love You’ offers lush arrangements – reminiscent of Angel Olsen and Billie Marten – and probably one of my favourite tracks (although I loved it all to be fair).
In terms of the title ‘Wave’ – it is intended to strike a ‘unique balance of extremes, indicative of its double meaning: to wave goodbye to someone/something and to willingly surrender to the waves of life’s impermanence.’
This LP is a collection of songs spanning the past six years of Cure’s songwriting practice, largely recorded across home studios in Leeds and the midlands.
She says “It’s a very personal album. It’s about realising that love and grief go and in and, and to ride these waves of emotion is simply a natural part of living.”
Ailing from Warwickshire and based in Leeds, her enigmatic voice is illuminated in ‘Wave’, a tender, sweet compilation on love, loss and solitude.