Another season is changing, another reason to play a somber toe-tapper from Jason Ebbs.
The Boston artist today (August 23) unleashes a sweeping “Tidal Wave” of balmy pop that’s a natural fit among his “beach rock” repertoire. Much like his 2022 single “Always Wanted”, Ebbs’ new tune is a pastel swirl of disillusionment, doled out with sighing resignation. “Tidal Wave,” he says, “explores the idea of idolizing a person romantically, then realizing that they are not what you built them up to be in your mind.”
During the chorus, Ebbs basks in a lush synth-pop oasis of infatuation — only to have that paradise evaporate on every verse. “You said forever is what we could be / ‘Forever’ was the blink of an eye,” he laments, equal parts dumbfounded and deserted.
“The protagonist of the song sees their muse ‘walking on water,’ ‘kissing the sky,’ and ‘walking through tidal waves’ until they eventually fall back down to the ‘cold hard ground’ and everything is revealed to have been an illusion,” Ebbs explains.
You could say it’s the devastating gap between marriage material and mirage material. Feel the pull of Ebbs’ “Tidal Wave” below.