Waverer: All My Friends Passed Out on the Floor
Lorenzo Contin aka Waverer is a singer-songwriter with an indie rock aesthetic. His new EP «All of my friends passed out on the floor» is a snapshot of the life of a man in his mid-twenties. On four multifaceted songs, Waverer talks about absurd notions of masculinity, on-off relationships, his own comfort zone and getting older - sometimes playful and exuberant, sometimes sensitive and melancholy.
Waverer is the project of Zurich-based musician Lorenzo Contin. A «classic» singer-songwriter with acoustic guitar, but embellished with elements of indie-rock, garage rock and a variety of influences from the sixties and seventies. Originally a drummer in various outfits, Contin first took the stage with his solo project in 2018. Fittingly, he named himself Waverer, an ironic nod to his self-reflexive manner of deconstructing his own thoughts, fears, and experiences in his songs. In 2020, he released a self-titled acoustic EP on Lauter as well as a few singles between 2019 and 2021, in which he experimented with various topics and styles. Over the last couple of years, Waverer played various stages and small festivals in Switzerland, solo and in different band constellations.
The EP is motivated first and foremost by Contin’s attempt to portray personal experiences and thoughts as clearly and unfiltered as possible. The title, taken from a line in the opener Lights Out , represents a recurring theme in the songs – the social life of twenty-somethings, being out and about but still feeling lonely and overthinking things while everybody else is having fun. At the same time, the title also carries an ironic note, as Contin’s frequent use of self-deprecating humour aims to show the inherent banality of such problems, and the oddity of situations often taken far too seriously.
The four songs on the EP are all significantly different in their vibe, energy, and musical direction. While Soft Type is a straightforward and raw parody of ideals of masculinity, the spacey uptempo track Orbiting is more nuanced, experimenting with synthesizers and a subtle eighties groove. The playfulness and rock n’roll nonchalance of these tracks are contrasted by the fittingly gloomy opener Lights Out , a folk piece with reverb-laden surf guitar and a dramatic duet that muses over the passing of youth and the reluctance to leave one’s comfort zone. The closer Nova Scotia ends the EP in a similar vein: an acoustic song with cinematic strings and whispery vocal harmonies, on which Contin reflects on past intimate experiences and the need to save face in embarrassment.
Although each song presents another facet and stylistic exploration of the songwriter, the EP is held together by this personal approach to narration, as well as a singular sound. Waverer plays a dynamic and delicately arranged brand of folk rock, inspired by classic and modern greats such as Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Elliott Smith and Big Thief, but with the will to experiment and the urge to break with clichés.
Waverer’s second EP All of my friends passed out on the floor was recorded over the first half of 2023 with the band and edited by Contin in collaboration with producer and musician Vojko Huter (Pina Palau, District Five). Among others, it features drummer Manuel Neuhaus (Lizzysloaf, Dennis Kiss & The Sleepers), singer Chiara Fanuli (claire my flair) as well as guest musician Lia Neff (Follia) on strings.
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