Wave 21’s live performance video for “Way Far Back” she’s the group in fine and lively form. Rather than it’s usual storytelling mode, the song is more like an anthem that connects other songs together while also being able to stand on its own. Vocalist Mary-Lynn Doroschuk brings great energy and presence to the performance as she sings about “going way far back to where it all started and even further than that.” What that exactly means it’s hard to say but the song sounds like a compelling blend of power pop and country and so that song might be thought of as embracing roots in songwriting and perhaps the kinds of places you play live when you’re starting out as a way to get back to where you want to be. Doroschuk’s father Stefan was a member of well-known Canadian New Wave band Men Without Hats and he and his brothers had a band called Wave 21 that was the precursor to the band that earned them some degree of fame. But Mary-Lynn Doroschuk isn’t musically tapping into her father’s style or accomplishments as a musician so much as having forged her own creative identity and one that has been going on long enough where she and her bandmates have a sense of their own history the celebration of which in the fashion of this song is a way to utilize current musical chops and sophistication to revisit the spark that got them going to where they are now as a source of inspiration. The rest of the album Brace Yourself is sonically more intricate and atmospheric. But “Way Far Back” with some great, fiery solo work by Steve Hill is raw and brash and a vehicle to showcase how the band rocks as much as it is capable of delivering thoughtful and sophisticated, folk-inflected pop songs. Fans of Lone Justice will appreciate the songwriting acumen and warm sensitivity Wave 21 has to offer. Watch the video for “Way Far Back” on YouTube and connect with Wave 21 at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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