Album Review: Cherry Makes Waves – Home By Eleven
Cherry Makes Waves has been making waves for some time. And some of those even reached our readers previously. And now it's time for an even bigger splash – in the form of a fully-fledged debut album Home by Eleven. Hooray!
After a quick abrasive intro track Yeah the album properly starts with One Level Higher, a curious song existing on the unlikely middle ground between trance, cloud rap and alternative metal. CMW’s audacious production and killer melodies on this track will hit right at home for anyone who’s into Rina Sawayama.
Regulate Your Mess doesn't lower the bar when it comes to sonic weirdness and melodic catchiness. The sound palette here brings to mind Animal Collective's poppier moments on Painting With. I can’t quite pinpoint how the textures and timbres were created, which makes it a delicious puzzle for the brain.
The eponymous track that comes next is notable for its rubbery bass tone, sticky like chewing gum. The in-your-face four-to-the-floor rhythm is cleverly offset by airy, textural synths, scratching two itches at once — one for wild dancing, the other for getting lost in the atmosphere.
Bisket Full offers a sultry breather after the relentless dancing, with crisp drums that nod to the golden era of big beat.
Dancing Like I Know Ya, on the other hand, unleashes full-on rave energy, with gated synths cutting like knives and drums galloping wildly like a herd of untamed horses.
Kids Chasing Clocks recalls Kosheen’s hit Catch U, blending atmospheric depth with a palpable sense of danger. I was especially drawn to the smoky, serpentine synth arpeggios.
With a triumphant synth riff, gritty bass, and vocals that know no boundaries, Bloody Mary channels Björk, especially her work with Timbaland.
Sad on Internet takes a moment to build, until the drums kick in—and when they do, it’s completely unpredictable. The synths roar like wild beasts, and then the rhythm shifts again just as unexpectedly, like the images scrolling through your social media feed. Hyperpop at its most inventive!
Sea provides the sharpest possible contrast to the previous track. It’s my favorite on the album—and in one of my favorite genres. So cutting-edge that it barely has a recognized label, let’s call it ambient pop.
High & Dry closes the album with a bang, uniting everything we’ve come to love on the record: sharp drums, washy textures of uncertain nature, crazy sound fx, unexpected rhythmic shifts, exotic synth timbres and insanely catchy melodies!
Home by Eleven is a whirlwind of textures, rhythms, and moods, where hyperpop collides with ambient escapism, rave energy intersects with atmospheric serpentine synths, and melodies refuse to sit still. Each track exists in its own logic, yet the album as a whole feels like a restless, breathing organism—playful, unsettling, and irresistible, a world that pulls you in sideways and changes your taste forever, like very few records can.
After a quick abrasive intro track Yeah the album properly starts with One Level Higher, a curious song existing on the unlikely middle ground between trance, cloud rap and alternative metal. CMW’s audacious production and killer melodies on this track will hit right at home for anyone who’s into Rina Sawayama.
Regulate Your Mess doesn't lower the bar when it comes to sonic weirdness and melodic catchiness. The sound palette here brings to mind Animal Collective's poppier moments on Painting With. I can’t quite pinpoint how the textures and timbres were created, which makes it a delicious puzzle for the brain.
The eponymous track that comes next is notable for its rubbery bass tone, sticky like chewing gum. The in-your-face four-to-the-floor rhythm is cleverly offset by airy, textural synths, scratching two itches at once — one for wild dancing, the other for getting lost in the atmosphere.
Bisket Full offers a sultry breather after the relentless dancing, with crisp drums that nod to the golden era of big beat.
Dancing Like I Know Ya, on the other hand, unleashes full-on rave energy, with gated synths cutting like knives and drums galloping wildly like a herd of untamed horses.
Kids Chasing Clocks recalls Kosheen’s hit Catch U, blending atmospheric depth with a palpable sense of danger. I was especially drawn to the smoky, serpentine synth arpeggios.
With a triumphant synth riff, gritty bass, and vocals that know no boundaries, Bloody Mary channels Björk, especially her work with Timbaland.
Sad on Internet takes a moment to build, until the drums kick in—and when they do, it’s completely unpredictable. The synths roar like wild beasts, and then the rhythm shifts again just as unexpectedly, like the images scrolling through your social media feed. Hyperpop at its most inventive!
Sea provides the sharpest possible contrast to the previous track. It’s my favorite on the album—and in one of my favorite genres. So cutting-edge that it barely has a recognized label, let’s call it ambient pop.
High & Dry closes the album with a bang, uniting everything we’ve come to love on the record: sharp drums, washy textures of uncertain nature, crazy sound fx, unexpected rhythmic shifts, exotic synth timbres and insanely catchy melodies!
Home by Eleven is a whirlwind of textures, rhythms, and moods, where hyperpop collides with ambient escapism, rave energy intersects with atmospheric serpentine synths, and melodies refuse to sit still. Each track exists in its own logic, yet the album as a whole feels like a restless, breathing organism—playful, unsettling, and irresistible, a world that pulls you in sideways and changes your taste forever, like very few records can.