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 sophomore album, Pastlife.