“W/L (Waiting List)” may come from a dreamy, arabesque-infused sonic place, somewhere where pop accessibility dances deftly with the avant-garde, but it has a very focused message. Within its swirling, exotic folds lies a plea to put pressure on the powers-that-be to tackle the hospital waiting times in the UK, something that successive governments have made an election pledge to improve but consistently have failed to do.
Not only a song with a sense of purpose, but the spoken word voices you hear are taken from interviews with health and maintenance workers, doctors, and nurses, and it is also a reminder that we might feel small and unheard as individuals, but as a collective voice, we can become hard to ignore. It is also worth noting that the titular Estrada is himself a doctor whose work and music-making blur into one common cause.
If there is a space where the shimmer and sheen of dream-pop borders a rawer, DIY indie-folktronic sound, “W/L (Waiting List)” seems to be infused with and inspired by equal amounts of both. More than that, it also drifts into some seductive cinematic territory, its ambient glow smoothing everything and softening the edges. But unlike much of the music made in such territory, it is as much about the message as the music, more really.
For every poised note, there is a purposeful lyric. For every gently addictive groove, a sentiment that should be shouted from the rooftops. For every voice heard drifting through, a thousand more are crying out in frustration, as we should all be.
I have often argued that if you are making music but not using the soapbox position that it affords you to say something important, make people think, remind people that they are not alone, then you are missing a trick. And if you believe that the creation of truly beautiful music and the delivery of words that matter don’t sit easily together, then you need to give “W/L (Waiting List)” another spin! A thing of pure charm as it advocates change!
x
Soundcloud
Bandcamp
YouTube
Instagram
