Pilot Waves isn’t just Icarus the Owl’s third album- it’s also the innovative pop-punk group’s debut on Blue Swan Records, a label run by Dance Gavin Dance’s Will Swan. While the band’s singer Joey Rubenstein was generous enough to send me a copy of the release a few weeks ago, I regrettably haven’t been able to spend much time cracking the album. But Joey was able to share some thoughts and feelings with me about this release, reasons why Pilot Waves is a different kind of release for Icarus the Owl.

Pilot Waves exists as a balance of light and dark. We pulled our sound in opposite directions- meaning that we wrote the heaviest and lightest songs we’ve ever written. I was going through a tumultuous time while writing the album, and I think the ups and downs in both the music and lyrics are a reflection of that. Some days I would have a very manic headspace, and I’d write a really heavy song. Other days, I would feel serene and write something more uplifting. We talk a lot about waves on this album and it fits perfectly with how the album sounds. Pilot Waves peaks and valleys much like the oscillation of a wave.

Stream Pilot Waves in full below, and pre-order it at the following link: http://smarturl.it/Pilotwaves