Words by Jake Haselman//Illustration by Jorge Tapia
Jeremy Enigk’s solo debut, Return of the Frog Queen, blew my fragile little mind. I had been a fan of Sunny Day Real Estate, but the frontman took music to a new level with his solo effort. His first step into solo-dom was a nine-piece opus of orchestrated pop, a masterpiece well before pop of that kind was all the rage. Then he retreated back into the fold of Sunny Day (and later The Fire Theft), leaving fans of his solo work waiting patiently for his return. Our day has finally come.

Championing a new label, Enigk has arrived with 10 new tracks that are sure to make fans of his past work swoon. With the grace and songwriting maturity that has been his hallmark throughout his career, World Waits is the next logical step in his discography. Although not as ambitious as his debut, this album sounds like the 10-year answer for Return. It’s refined and powerful (even without the over-the-top theatrics of his debut) revealing compact songs that captivate and engage from the first note.

The aptly titled track “A New Beginning” opens the album with an uplifting and airy instrumental treat. With its soft swell, the song eases you into a new stage in Enigk’s career. From there the album just builds upon itself, unraveling great song after great song. While Return overflows with indulgent orchestrations, World Waits shows Enigk as a songwriter who knows how to pull back on the reigns and let the pure heart of his songs shine through.

The first proper song, “Been Here Before” seems to pick right up where his first solo album left off. It’s just that now that Enigk has ten more years of songwriting under his belt they have more of a craftsmen’s touch. Delicate silhouettes of melody slowly reveal themselves and become bold proclamations by the song’s conclusion. And this is how Enigk has always worked. But this time there is a well-seasoned flavor to his music. Because now he is not an angry and/or confused twenty-something bending sounds to create a new genre, he is just a songwriter with a tremendous sense of melody and song arrangement

Songs like the slow burning “Damien Dreams” will send shivers down your spine with such force and emotion that it will cause you to flashback to the first time you heard the Diary LP. It’s got that raw and uncontrolled Enigk howl, that scream that just tears through your chest and claws at your heart, but he uses it with measure and restraint. Instead of blowing up into some predicable crescendo, he lets the song slowly ebb and flow all while maintaining it’s lackadaisical pace. It’s this newfound self-control that makes these songs hauntingly familiar, but fresh and exciting at the same time.

Here’s hoping that World Waits is just the beginning of a new era for Enigk—one where he is left free to his own devices. Because an unrestricted Jeremy Enigk just spells aural gold for those who are willing to take it all in.