Waves

The only real problem with One Way Records' anthology on Katrina & the Waves is that it gives too much room to their first Capitol album (which ought to be out as a free-standing CD) and not enough to their later material. Anyone seeking to go further should track down this imported disc. Thanks to EMI's acquisition of the SBK label, for which the band recorded in 1989, and its merger with Virgin Records, for which the Waves recorded in the early '90s in Germany, this collection has a little range and depth, although it's still just a greatest-hits collection – if it were a best-of, it would also have to include some of their Attic Records sides from before their signing to Capitol. In addition to the eight songs off of the first Capitol album, there are four more off of Waves, including "Lovely Lindsey" (the one glaring gap in the One Way release).

The trio – comprised of producer Luke Abbott, saxophonist Jack Wyllie (Portico Quartet) and drummer Laurence Pike (Triosk/PVT/Liars) – recorded the album sessions together at the tail end of their 2019 European tour, locking themselves away in the studio for three days of improvisation. They emerged with hours of music, some inspired by their live shows, most born fresh in the studio itself, ready to be moulded into the group’s third album in five years.