Australia’s Wayside don’t want the emo revival to end. The duo are wistful for Title Fight’s Hyperview, Superheaven’s Jar, and Citizen’s Youth, determined to blur the lines between emo, shoegaze, grunge, and nu-metal. What’s definitely in these songs is movement—a feeling of free-floating, a dizzying sensation constructed vaguely with elastic riffs and airy vocals.
“Cherophobia” is the newest single from Wayside, which we’re premiering today. Vocalist Thomas Davenport told us: “It’s about believing that I’m the best version of myself when I’m alone. I typically go a little insane when I care a lot for a person, and I don’t like myself when that happens. When I’m alone, no one’s thoughts, words, nor actions can influence my mind. There’s also an element of choosing to be alone, rather than settling for something that is mediocre/I’m not certain about.”
Davenport and guitarist Josh Ehmer put together a playlist of songs that influence Wayside. Watch the video for “Cherophobia” below, and check out their playlist underneath.
THOMAS:
The Cure, “A Letter to Elise”
The Cure is one of our favorite bands of all time. We loved the relaxed feeling of the whole song, the chorus especially. The way the guitar carries the post-chorus to let the vocals breathe is so cool. We definitely kept this in mind writing “Cherophobia.”
Title Fight, “Trace Me Onto You”
Hyperview is one of the best albums ever. Their use of the chorus pedal for a really full and washy effect is perfect. This album inspired us both to buy the BOSS CE-2 chorus pedal, which was used throughout this track and many others.
Balance & Composure, “Mediocre Love”
This song inspired me in more ways than one. From a lyrical standpoint, I love the way that he’s singing about the ugly truth, the things that people often dance around/avoid talking about. After hearing this track years ago I always knew I wanted to write about this topic in particular.
Citizen, “The Summer”
The contrast between driving energy and aggression of the verses and the more relaxed and open feeling of the pre-chorus and chorus we thought was really refreshing and something you don’t hear very often.
The Church, “Under the Milky Way”
Indisputably one of the greatest songs of all time. This song has such a dreamy and warm vibe to it that we wanted to emulate for “Cherophobia.”
blink-182, “Down”
Like everyone else, blink-182 was a huge part of our adolescence. What grabbed us most about this song is the second part to the chorus, where the vocals take a back seat, become quite minimal and repetitive to let the rhythm take control and allow the song to breathe.
Joy Division, “Isolation”
Lyrically this has always been one of my favorite songs, once again talking about the ugly truths of life and isolation. Additionally the constant driving work on the hi-hats with the driving bass was definitely an inspiration.
JOSH:
Nirvana, “Drain You”
I used to thrash a lot of Nirvana in my late teens. I still go back to them from time to time. I suppose, while we were writing “Cherophobia,” that was one of those times. The verses were pretty heavily inspired by “Drain You.”
Talking Heads, “Born Under Punches”
I can’t really draw many parallels between this track and “Cherophobia” but this song rules and I listened to it a lot while we were writing.
Cocteau Twins, “Cherry-Coloured Funk”
I guess I was inspired by how hard a chorus as chill as this can hit. With “Cherophobia,” I think it would have been easy enough to maintain the sound and energy of the verses into the chorus, but it was definitely a conscious decision to roll it back for the chorus. This song definitely inspired that decision.
Rosemary Fairweather, “Calling Listening”
I feel like the choruses of this song were executed perfectly, vocal-wise. There’s a lot of room for the song to breathe and flow. Definitely something we tried to be aware of in the same way.
Can, “Halleluwah”
This is another song that I thrashed during the writing process. There’s probably not many similarities at all between this and “Cherophobia,” but when I think about the time spent writing and recording, I always end up with this song stuck in my head. I listened to it a lot and I still listen to it a lot.
