New Flicker Records’ rock band Wavorly debuts Conquering the Fear of Flight. From Tupelo, Mississippi, the band combines various sets of strings to many variations of rock to create a semi-unique modern rock sound. The band began as the college pop-punk band, Freshman 15, but after changes and a new vision went with the better choice of modern rock.
Opening the album is an intro full of orchestra strings, and then quickly dives into “Madmen” an amazing song about conveying the sense of urgency that we lack as Christian youth. Dave Stovall (Lead Vocals / Guitar) says; “So many days go by where our focus is to be entertained, rather than loving and helping others and fulfilling the great commission.” Once I read that, I had to go read the lyrics and it became clear how powerful, and convicting, that song can be. The two verses, “We dance in consequences / Entranced with worldly glimpses / Careless with our decisions” and “This is the real adventure / To move past what’s mediocre / Obsessed with entertainment / Step up or miss the point of it,” really stuck out to me, and it showed me that this band is serious about their faith as well.
Dave mentions that “Part One” and “Endless Day” were both written about a book by C.S. Lewis called The Great Divorce. The main point in the book is that if you choose Heaven you cannot take any part of Hell with you, and vice versa. Part One is about one of the characters who chose Hell, while Endless Day is about a character chooses Heaven. “When the Light comes (from far away) / I’m closing my eyes in shadow / When Darkness takes me (so far away) / I look for the Light and find that you can’t have both” – chorus of “Part One.” While the chorus of “Endless Day” goes like this, “Endless Day, no further away / where present day will never end / I will run with no pain in my side / all shadows left behind.” I found it very fascinating how Dave wrote those from the book’s perspective of Heaven and Hell. I think it also shows a maturity in his writing of how he could write two songs that intermingle within each other.
The first Wavorly radio hit is “Praise and Adore (Some Live Without It).” This song begun as a worship song, but Dave states “while I was writing I realized that some people go through this life without knowing the best part about it: knowing Jesus.” If you have read our Devotional (#5) on this song, you may realize that, that hit me, and I really think if you pay attention to what the song says, and what Dave is portraying through the song we can change this world!
“Sometimes God takes things away from us that we think are good. In the end, God works all things out for the good of those who love Him. Romans 8:28.” that is the whole theme for “Time I Understood.” Opening the song is “As I’m building up this house I wonder what of it will stay / it seems You just take things away.” I must admit, sometimes I ask that question too, and then in the chorus Dave sings, “Why did You take this away? I wanted it / Show me that there is no need to be afraid / can I move on now that it’s gone?”
Wavorly hits the mark similar to Red’s End of Silence and Skillet’s Comatose album when it comes to orchestra strings. Though Wavorly’s sound most of the time lighter than Red and Skillet, at times it is about the same. Like Red, they mix up the album with harder and lighter songs. Therefore, they have created a sound that you could call British Invasion meets Red.
Wavorly may be new, but they have great potential! Maturity is definitely in their lyrics! They are nothing short of being a great Christian rock band! I think anyone who likes modern rock will love this band and the band’s very positive and encouraging lyrics. I highly recommend Conquering the Fear of Flight to anybody looking for some great new music!
Article by Jeremy Koering
