7/10

It seems very strange to be talking about YONAKA releasing their debut album in 2019, given the amount of material we have already heard from them over the years already. With singles going back as far as 2016 and a flurry of EP releases last year, the sheer amount of songs the band have produced up to this point would be enough to fill two studio albums. And while some of that more familiar work does reappear on their first full-length, 'Don't Wait 'Til Tomorrow' looks to become a more forward thinking release with the band opting to showcase more of their recent works.

Since their early beginnings, YONAKA have always looked to create a more thought-provoking angle to the conventional pop-rock sound. Much like their contemporaries such as Anteros and Pale Waves, the band look to blend a mixture of commercially acceptable ideas with a dark and brooding pretence, leading to a well-produced release but one that seems to lack much originality as it plays. Yet despite its conventional approach, the band are able to create a solid and atmospheric collection of tracks that borrow from their past, just as much as they want to penetrate the newer and broodier zeitgeist that artists like Billie Eilish have begun to create in the charts.

From start to finish, 'Don't Wait 'Til Tomorrow' is a strong and engaging affair, and never really feels like it is going to slow down at any point. A number of tracks such as 'Awake' and 'Lose Our Heads' deliver so much tenacity that any cobwebs the band rarely suffer on this release are shaken loose almost immediately. From what we have heard on their EPs already, this is definitely the best example of their sound that they have offered up so far.