A little over a year ago, Nathan Williams found himself back in San Diego, writing what would eventually become Hideaway, his seventh album as Wavves, in a little shed behind his parents’ house. It was also the place where he made some of his earliest albums, before he became known for his uncanny ability to write songs that sneered at the world while evoking pathos, sympathy, and a deep understanding of how sometimes we’re our own worst enemies, and that can be okay. Williams’ return to his childhood home was not just a symbolic attempt at jumpstarting creativity. It came as a result of a series of major life changes. A decade ago, Williams released King of the Beach on the maverick indie label Fat Possum. The album was a cocky collection of pop punk gems that catapulted him into the public consciousness, eventually prompting a jump from Fat Possum into the major label system, where he released two albums before becoming disillusioned by the lack of creative agency available to him.

In 2017, Williams self-released You’re Welcome on his label, Ghost Ramp. Now, Williams has returned to Fat Possum with a barbed collection of anxious anthems that grapple with the looming sense of doom and despair that comes with getting older in an increasingly chaotic world. “He’ll always skew toward the Bart Simpson [character],” says Matthew Johnson, founder of Fat Possum. “But that does not mean that he doesn’t have some commentary, and once in a while, it’s totally spot on.” Across its brief but impactful nine tracks, Hideaway is about what happens when you get old enough to take stock of the world around you and realize that no one is going to save you but yourself, and even that might be a tall order. The album features Williams’ most universal and urgent songs yet. “Honeycomb” lopes along sunnily, as Williams sings affecting lines like “I feel like I’m dying, it’s cool, it’s great, just pretend I’m okay.”

His directness is shocking, and proof that Williams is the kind of songwriter who can capture pain and uncertainty with resonant brutal force. “It’s real peaks and valleys with me,” Williams says. “I can be super optimistic and I can feel really good, and then I can hit a skid and it’s like an earthquake hits my life, and everything just falls apart. Some of it is my own doing, of course.” It’s this self-awareness that permeates each of Hideaway’s songs, marking them each as mature reckonings with who he is. After realizing the material he’d been working on in the hideaway was starting to take shape, Williams, along with bandmates Stephen Pope and Alex Gates workshopped the songs in a series of now-abandoned studio sessions, before linking up with musician and producer Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio to help fully realize their new songs.

Past Shows


Jun
8
th
2023
Fine Line
Jun
8
th
2023
Fine Line
Aug
2
nd
2022
Fine Line
Aug
2
nd
2022
Fine Line

Wavves

King of the Beach Tour
with BOYO and smut
Nov
6
th
2020
Fine Line
Nov
6
th
2020
Fine Line
Cancelled

Wavves

'King of the Beach' 10 Year Anniversary USA Tour
with SadGirl and Juiceboxxx
Nov
10
th
2018
Fine Line
Nov
10
th
2018
Fine Line

Wavves

with Shy Boys
May
24
th
2017
Triple Rock Social Club
May
24
th
2017
Triple Rock Social Club

Wavves

with Kino Kimino
Mar
29
th
2013
7th St Entry
Mar
29
th
2013
7th St Entry

FIDLAR and Wavves

with Cheatahs

More Shows

Oct
3
rd
Palace Theatre

Sammy Rae & The Friends

Oct
3
rd
Fine Line

Ocie Elliott

May
12
th
Fine Line

He Is Legend

with Codeseven and The Seafloor Cinema
May
29
th
Turf Club

Lizzie No