By Alex Lamont
‘Simple Sensations’ and ‘Motion Sickness’ are the group’s debut voyage into the musical world, a pair of drum machine supported, tightly contained pop tracks boldly bearing their influences for all to see. Salad Days era Mac DeMarco-esque deep synths and tidy drum patterns punctuate both tracks, beneath shaking bass synths and Keith Murray style pop rock vocals. Yet, despite the easy comparisons, yawn equally inject their own unique genre fusions over the six and a half minutes of their fledgling single.
‘Motion Sickness’ borrows a refreshing dubstep-like post chorus, as rumbling electronics rise from a sweetly delivered refrain, departing from the live bass opening. The final forty seconds features the greatest highlight found across the two tracks, with sleek instrumental layering ushering in a coked-up Depeche Mode homage as watery harmonies conclude the track with a bittersweet optimism, sharply contrasting the darkness of its post-chorus.
‘Simple Sensations’ follows a far more tried and tested structure, significantly slower than its opposing track, with a sticky falsetto hook. This track wouldn’t sound out of place amongst the pack in a later We Are Scientists release, solid, reliable pop. The track lyrically toys with all the hallmarks of a mainstream romantic track, ‘glimmer in your eye’ and all the trimmings. Perhaps the track feels slightly less ambitious than its counterpart with a far simpler approach to synth pop.
yawn do appear to be onto something golden though, and their maiden output shows frequent moments of great promise. While slightly disjointed at times, this pair of well produced tracks indicate that with more time to gel in the post-pandemic world, the trio could very well hit the more consistent stride that this first taste alludes to- even if it does so in fragments.
yawn’s single ‘Simple Sensations’ can be found on all good streaming platforms while currently ‘Motion Sickness’ is awaiting imminent release.
Robinson's Records 