By Chris Malinowski | January 31, 2024
It’s difficult to express in words how much Joywave as a band means to me. After an extremely dark period in my life during the backend of 2023, I decided to analyze and reflect upon some albums that I found myself relistening to as a therapeutic way to cope and grieve with the tragedies that had shaken me during this time. For me, the album that ranked highest and was most replayed on my list came in the form of Joywave’s fourth studio album: Cleanse, which was released on February 11th, 2022.
For some background context, I had originally seen Joywave live in concert on April 2nd, 2022 at the Union Transfer in Philadelphia. At the time, I hadn’t really grasped their discography as of yet and chose their concert as a way to celebrate spring break. Reveling in the spectacle at the time, I want to point out that the beauty of Joywave’s live performances comes from the production put on by vocalist Daniel Armbruster (middle) as well as guitarist Joseph Morinelli (left) and drummer Paul Brenner (right). Their live album, aptly titled “Live”, was released on July 29th, 2022 and features the very same setlist from the concert that I witnessed as well as the poignant and satirical commentary from Armbruster that adds to the charm of Joywave as a band. Also, there’s something beautiful in the form of their encore set including “Dangerous” where every single band member played a bass guitar on stage and “Double Destruction” which as the name suggests, hits even harder the second time around.
Author’s Note: After going through my old concert folder that I had saved on my phone, I found a couple of photos that I had taken from the Joywave show mentioned above. These are very low-quality but it’s nice to showcase a few mementos from a concert that introduced me to a band that I hold dear to my heart. Enjoy!
Now, as much as I’d like to write up a concert review regarding something that I saw two years ago… I’d much rather express the significance of Cleanse as an album and why it’s so important to me. Cleanse exudes a form of lyricism and finesse that balances a healthy dosage of both alternative bliss and some hard truths to swallow. According to the Spotify biography tab presented on the band’s page, the album was conceived when touring plans for Joywave’s third album, Possession, fell through when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. With this unexpected shift, it somehow gave way for Armbruster to reflect upon the past and present as well as moments of realization regarding metaphorical chips on his shoulders that he needed to get rid of. When I originally read through this, I realized that I had found myself in a similar position after retrospection and it hit deeper than it needed to.
Music, to me, has always been about how songs make you feel generally as well as the significance behind the messaging of the music itself as well. Upon relistening, Cleanse is able to convey deep emotions in a complex way while still single-handedly touching on subjects that are raw and therapeutic in nature. When evaluating this album, I was touched by the integrity regarding the lyricism written on most of the songs as they focus on heavy subjects as well as the instrumentals behind all ten tracks on the album too. With all of this in mind, the album’s runtime of 35 minutes doesn’t seem to weigh heavily as it gives a lot of repeatability.
Cleanse is one of those albums that feels like a breath of fresh air as you’re listening to it. Each track is packed with so much detail and features an explosive mix of energy as it details themes of technology, humanity, and society as a whole. It felt as though Joywave was trying to make up for the lost time inflicted with the COVID-19 spread between their third and fourth albums and in a way, it really worked. Every song featured on this album exudes a critique on the world and the hardships that come with it but Armbruster sprinkles in his own motivational energy to bring up the album. Overall, compared to Joywave’s other albums, Cleanse holds up on its own as a force to be reckoned with.
On a more personal note, I couldn’t have rediscovered this album at a better time. Without disclosing too much about myself on a student blog for the radio station that I’m the training director for… the last few months of 2023 were rough ones for me. The amount of pain that I went through sort of broke me in ways that I hadn’t really felt before. But, at the same time, it allowed me to gain a deeper appreciation for the better moments with my friends who I consider to be really close with as well as fully grasp the concept of using music as a way to cope with the stuff that I’ve been faced with too. In a strange way, I was able to also start the process of cleansing myself with the help of the songs on this album and I’m eternally grateful for that.
Overall, I can’t recommend this album enough to anybody out there reading this. Not only was this originally an amazing introduction to Joywave’s music as a whole for me but it’s also laced with a fusion of alternative to sink your teeth into. The amount of production that was put into this album speaks volumes as it displays a raw side to Joywave’s music and captivates the listener with glistening forms of motivation during times of uncertainty. I’m also genuinely excited as well to see what Armbruster, Morinelli, and Brenner have planned for their next album as Joywave too. I hope that whoever chooses to listen to this album appreciates the art that was presented to them and I can’t thank Joywave enough, as a listener myself, for producing Cleanse and helping me start the process of praying for the reboot because sometimes, we are all we need at the end of the day.