Joywave

Bio

INTRO 

Cleanse is Joywave’s fourth studio album and is the follow-up to 2020’s Possession which  released on March 13th 2020 as the world shut down. With a virus ravaging the world and no  possibility of touring for the foreseeable future, Joywave frontman Daniel Armbruster was once  again able to dig into his own psyche and see what surfaced. The 10 tracks that make  up Cleanse were conceived, written and recorded in Armbruster’s home studio when  “reminders of our fragile mortality were everywhere, punctuated by the ongoing pandemic and  civil unrest,” he notes.   “Cleanse became the words, encouragement, and occasional cautions  that I would want to share with you if this was the last time we spoke,” Armbruster reflects. 

Highlights on the album include the catchy and clever “Buy American, “ the introspective “After  Coffee” which celebrates the pleasures of the mundane, the ambient groove of “Pray For The  Reboot,” the brooding and expansive “The Inversion” and “Every Window Is A Mirror” which  according to Armbruster recalls “our inability to understand the experiences of others.” 

THE INSIDE TRACK 

“This is the first time since Joywave has been a known entity that I can remember no one  explicitly asking me to make a record. Our third LP, “Possession”, came out March 13th 2020,  and the world stopped just a few days later. Our whole album cycle was dead on arrival. We had  spent close to 18 months making and setting up that record. It was crushing to watch everything  we had worked so hard to roll out in just the right way obliterated in an instant. 

But creatively, the timing couldn’t have been better. Something more positive began to emerge.  With our dense touring schedule shelved, I was able to reflect on past travels and appreciate  them in a new way. But reminders of our fragile mortality were everywhere, punctuated by the 

ongoing pandemic and civil unrest. The music began to encompass all of this. It became the  words, encouragement, and occasional cautions that I would want to share with you if this was  the last time we spoke. And with all this time spent looking inward came the realization that  there were still a few chips I was carrying on my shoulder that I needed to let go of. Maybe you  have those too. 

One of my first jobs ever was at a car wash. I thought of the band, after years spent on the road  taking a breather. Going through that wash process. Watching all the dirt and mud stripped  away. Coming out the other side refreshed and rejuvenated. Still having experienced everything  from before, but no longer wearing the scars. 

Welcome to Cleanse – Daniel Armbruster

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