Circa Waves are an English
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
band formed in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in 2013. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Kieran Shudall, guitarist Joe Falconer, bassist Sam Rourke, and drummer Colin Jones.
History
Early years (2013)
Shudall met both Rourke and Plummer through mutual friends at the annual music festival
Liverpool Sound City
Liverpool Sound City is an annual music festival and industry conference held in Liverpool, England. It was founded in 2008 by Dave Pichilingi. Sound City was located in Liverpool City Centre venues, such as The Kazimier, The Zanzibar and the ...
in 2013, meeting Falconer not long after at the same festival where he worked as a stage manager. During the summer and autumn of 2013 the band played several short UK tours, which included some secret shows. In a July 2014 interview in Paris, Falconer stated regarding the band name's origin, "Kieran wrote the
demo for "Young Chasers", recorded it and uploaded it to
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
in one day. As he was uploading it he needed a name and it was the first thing that came into his head in that split second."
Debut single and ''Young Chasers EP'' (2013–2014)
On 2 December 2013, the band released their debut single "Get Away/Good for Me", a double A-side on
Transgressive Records
Transgressive Records is an independent record label based in London, founded in 2004. Its founders, Tim Dellow and Toby L, first met at a Bloc Party gig organised by Toby's Rockfeedback website.
The label's debut release was "1am" by the Su ...
handled by Jen Long's Kissibility label. In February 2014, radio DJ
Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...
played the band's second single "Stuck in My Teeth" as his Hottest Record in the World. The band opened the NME Awards Tour in March 2014, which also included
Temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
,
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...
and
Royal Blood
A royal descent is a genealogical line of descent from a past or present monarch.
Both geneticists and genealogists have attempted to estimate the percentage of living people with royal descent. From a genetic perspective, the number of unp ...
. On 10 June 2014 Circa Waves released their ''Young Chasers'' EP on
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
in the US. A Japanese edition was released on 2 July 2014.
Also during 2014 they supported
the 1975
The 1975 are
an English pop rock
band formed in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in 2002. The band consists of Matty Healy (lead vocals, guitar, primary songwriter), Adam Hann (lead guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass), and George Daniel (drums, primary produ ...
on tour around the UK.
Circa Waves performed at various festivals during the summer of 2014, including Hurricane and Southside Festivals in Germany,
Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival is an annual music and arts festival set within the grounds of Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England.
The first edition of the festival took place in 2006 and has continued annually (apart from 2020 when it was cancel ...
,
T in the Park
T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...
,
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
, and
Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...
(Australia). They also performed at Arenal Sound (Spain),
Summer Sonic Festival
is an annual music festival held on one weekend in August simultaneously in both Chiba and Osaka, Japan. The festival features revolving lineups performing one day in Osaka then performing the next day in Chiba and vice-versa. The lineup often ...
in Japan, and at
Reading and Leeds Festival at the end of August 2014.
The band also supported
the Libertines
The Libertines are an English Rock music, rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, included John Hassall ...
in September 2014.
''Young Chasers'' (2014–2015)
The band released their debut studio album, ''
Young Chasers
''Young Chasers'' is the debut studio album by British indie rock band, Circa Waves. The album was released 30 March 2015 through Virgin EMI Records
Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was f ...
'', on 30 March 2015 which reached 10 in the
UK Album Charts
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Offici ...
and performed at a number of festivals, including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and
Boardmasters. In October 2015, the band toured the UK, including a sold out date at
Brixton Academy
Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Lon ...
.
''Different Creatures'' (2016–2018)
Circa Waves announced their second studio album, ''
Different Creatures'', on 24 November 2016, releasing the first single from the album "Wake Up" the same day.
The second single from the album, "Fire That Burns", was released on 26 January 2017. The album was released on 10 March 2017.
The album was released on 10 March 2017,
and peaked on the UK Albums Chart at number 11.
''What's It Like Over There'' (2019)
On 5 April 2019 the band released their third studio album titled, ''
What's It Like Over There?'', to critical success. It was supported by the singles, "Times Won't Change Me", "
Movies
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...
", and "The Way We Say Goodbye". The album earned critical acclaim for its mix of
indie and
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
, as well as the experimentation by the band. It peaked at Number 10 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
.
''Sad Happy'' (2019–2020)
On 19 November 2019 the band released the single "Jacqueline" via
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
. The single was accompanied by the announcement of their upcoming studio album ''
Sad Happy
''Sad Happy'' is the fourth studio album by British indie rock band Circa Waves. The album was released as a double album with "Happy" being released on 10 January 2020 and "Sad" being released on 13 March 2020 through PIAS Recordings
PIAS ...
''. The album was released in two parts, with the ''Happy'' side released in January 2020 and the ''Sad'' side followed in March 2020. According to the band, the double album concept "represents two sides of this tech-saturated, highly insecure age".
''Never Going Under'' and ''Hell On Earth'' EP (2022–present)

On 17 August 2022, the band released the single "Hell On Earth". The single was accompanied by the release of their EP ''Hell On Earth'' two days later on 19 August 2022. Then on 22 September 2022 the band released the single "Do You Wanna Talk" via
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
. The single was accompanied by the announcement of their upcoming fifth studio album ''
Never Going Under''. It was further supported by the singles, "Carry You Home", Living in the Grey" and "Never Going Under". The album was released on 13 January 2023 and reached Number 1 on the
UK Independent Album Chart.
Band members
Current
* Kieran Shudall – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2013–present)
* Joe Falconer – lead guitar, piano, backing vocals (2013–present)
* Sam Rourke – bass guitar, keyboard, backing vocals (2013–present)
* Colin Jones – drums (2015–present)
Former
* Sian Plummer – drums (2013–2015)
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
Promotional singles
Notes
References
External links
NME video interview*
*
*
{{Authority control
English indie rock groups
Musical groups established in 2013
Rock music groups from Liverpool
Dew Process artists
2013 establishments in England