Awake & Dreaming have always been interested in contrast, and ‘Underwater’ leans into that instinct with particular clarity. Taken from forthcoming debut album Inevitable, the single feels like a 2am conversation with yourself about what you keep carrying, what needs to be released, and what happens if you refuse.
Throughout, ‘Underwater’ frames emotional burden as something immense and isolating, like a whale drifting too deep beneath the surface, calling out in a language nobody can hear. It’s a striking metaphor for the kind of private overwhelm the band explores throughout Inevitable, where connection and isolation, hope and anxiety, technology and humanity continually rub against one another.
Intimate piano, close-miked vocals and quieter moments of reflection are allowed to grow naturally into walls of distorted guitar, making the larger sections feel earned as they play. The influence of Radiohead, Muse and Nine Inch Nails is easy to trace, but the emotional pull also comes from the more exposed side of artists like AURORA and The Cranberries.
There’s also a sense of tension that mirrors the wider construction of Inevitable. The ten-track album spans the full life of the band so far, from 2024 debut single ‘Old Ghosts’ to songs still being recorded this summer. Self-produced before being mixed by Jay Dufour and mastered by João Carvalho, it has been deliberately sequenced as two vinyl sides, with the emotional arc designed to unfold as a complete listen.
For a band built around being “awake to the noise of modern life, dreaming anyway,” ‘Underwater’ feels like one of the clearest expressions of that philosophy yet.
Dark, cinematic and emotionally direct, it captures the moment just before surrender; when the weight is still there, but so is the possibility of finally rising above it.