Essentially the solo vehicle for singer/songwriter Jackson Phillips, Oakland, California's Day Wave makes atmospheric, '80s-influenced synth- and guitar-based pop. Over releases like 2016's Headcase EP and the 2017 full-length Days We Had, Phillips' yearning, often melancholic songs combined the immediacy of lo-fi production with the sonically blurred colorations of ambient and noise pop to great success. After a 2020 EP called Crush, Day Wave returned in 2022 on the PIAS label with its sophomore album, Pastlife.

After releasing an album as part of the Brooklyn-based electro-pop duo Carousel, Phillips headed to the West Coast and launched the more guitar-based Day Wave as a solo venture in 2015. He self-released his debut EP, Come Home Now, then followed it in 2016 with a second EP, Headcase, on the Grand Jury imprint. The project's atmospheric pop was well received, racking up huge numbers on the streaming platforms, leading to interest from record labels. Phillips soon signed to Harvest Records and in early 2017 released Day Wave's full-length debut, Days We Had. Produced by Phillips and Mark Rankin (Bloc Party, Adele), the record expanded on Day Wave's lo-fi bedroom pop origins with a more robust and layered production value.

Over the next few years, Phillips continued to release music at a slower pace beginning with 2018's stand-alone "Still Let You Down" single and the 2020 EP Crush. During the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, he tried a new method of writing that involved livestreaming his recording sessions on the Twitch platform so fans could follow his creative process in real time. Several of the songs from those public sessions were included on Day Wave's second album, Pastlife. Released in June 2022 by the PIAS label, Pastlife was deeply inspired by a sense of nostalgia and the self-examination of looking backward. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi