FLAIL CAPTURES WAVERLEY. IN A RESTLESS, RADIANT LIGHT
EP REVIEW | WAVERLEY. – FLAIL by Georgina Daniels
On their brand new EP Flail, Edinburgh’s waverley. spin a six-track web of yearning, melancholy, and restless energy, sitting somewhere between the DIY vulnerability of American Football and the jittery tension of early Bloc Party. Across its half-hour runtime, Flail balances a raw emotional core with thoughtful, dynamic production — even if the lyrical storytelling still feels like it’s in the early stages of development.
Opener How It Starts kicks off with a driving, almost galloping drum rhythm, instantly pulling the listener into its orbit. Think the breathless percussion before the final chorus in Florence and the Machine’s Dog Days Are Over, but reimagined through a scrappier, indie-rock lens. The drums undergo playful mutations without ever losing their heartbeat, as soaring vocals twist between clipped, monosyllabic phrases and long, aching legato notes. It’s a Bloc Party-esque storm of fuzzy guitars and stick-skidding rhythms, building toward a noisy, chaotic climax. The lyrics — “it’s all hope / your face gets cold / don’t make sense / I’m so possessed” — feel more emotive than coherent, but the lived-in delivery forgives any narrative vagueness.
A brief transitional track follows but feels half-finished, disrupting the momentum instead of deepening it.
waverley. find their footing again on The Corner, a standout moment. Here, earthy, strummed guitar tones replace the earlier jankiness, and there’s a clear Modern Baseball influence in the bittersweet vocal delivery. Lines like “there’s something in the way you talk” resonate with a coming-of-age fragility that feels instantly familiar. Watching them perform The Corner live here reveals even more — the band’s chemistry is palpable, the layered guitars intertwining with an earnest urgency that’s difficult to fake.
Grace takes a more laid-back, shoegaze-tinged turn, blending spoken word with soft melodies over a shuffly, washed-out beat — something like a half-brother to Slaughter Beach, Dog’s 104 Degrees. It’s loose, almost lazily gorgeous.
Nettle is the EP’s crown jewel. Strings and piano creep in carefully, before a crashing drumbeat periodically swells the track to cathartic peaks. The band channels the emotional heft of American Football without sounding derivative. The acoustic and cello interplay that closes the track is genuinely moving.
Closer In The Thick of It strips things right back. Built around a bare piano line, it recalls the bruised minimalism of Matt Maltese’s first EP In A New Bed. A surprise harmonica cameo adds a rough-hewn warmth — think early Billy Joel, but lonelier and less polished. It’s a beautiful, brooding end to the record.
Flail is marked by brilliant musical choices and thoughtful production, even if the lyricism sometimes feels secondary. waverley. excel at conjuring atmosphere, mood, and movement, and their references — from American Football to Bloc Party to Slaughter Beach, Dog — are worn proudly, yet integrated into something that still feels distinct. If Flail hints at anything, it’s that Waverley are only getting started — and their next chapter will be even more exciting.
Flail is OUT NOW via Blackhall Records and available on limited Teal Vinyl HERE
waverley. will be performing at this year’s Stag & Dagger Festival in Glasgow on Saturday 3rd May before playing Edinburgh’s Cabaret Voltaire alongside Lacuna on Friday 9th May.
