Holy Wave and Queen Serene

Holy Wave at Kilowatt

In Ensenada, Mexico, where the Pacific horizon cuts a clean, unwavering line, Holy Wave recorded their latest full length, i’m DADA, a record that feels both expansive and newly concentrated for the subterranean pop four-piece. Stepping outside the United States was less a retreat than a shift in perspective, creating distance to recognize a new sound that had been slowly taking shape among them. i’m DADA quickly revealed its character: more propulsive, more candid, and their most structurally deliberate work to date.

Working alongside experimental duo Lorelle Meets the Obsolete at their studio El Derrumbe the sessions folded community into the album, though its emotional core had already formed over months of pre-production. Half of Holy Wave is Mexican, with roots in the El Paso border region, so recording in Ensenada felt intuitive and relaxed. Joo Joo Ashworth, mixing engineer and longtime friend, also provided a pivotal presence helping crystallize the album’s rhythmic language and subtly expanding the band’s sound. The songs began reflecting conversations about fatherhood and partnership, breakups and estrangement, the queasy acceleration of AI, and what it means to remain present and principled while the world lurches unpredictably forward.

Queen Serene is a band based in Austin, Texas that formed out of a pandemic-induced bedroom recording project by Sarah Ronan, formerly of The Naked Tungs. The current lineup includes Matt Galceran sharing vocals and guitar, Dale Pohly on bass, and Charlie Cassells on drums. Sharing a love of meditative drones, angular riffs, and motorik drums, the band has evolved into their own sound over a mutual admiration for bands like Wire, My Bloody Valentine, Can, and Yo La Tengo. Their self titled debut was released in 2023 and was quickly followed up by their second album "2" the next year- landing a write up in the Austin Chronicle's top 10 albums of 2024.