7/10

On his latest collection 'Wait, Sky', Jesse Blake Rundle sculpts a sonic memoir from rain, heartbreak, and scraps of memory left humming on cassette tapes. Continuing the explorative journey he has cultivated to date, this twelve-track album unspools like an emotional time-lapse, capturing the slow, radiant churn of transformation with all the patience and detail of a naturalist in the wild.

From the windswept tuba interludes to the field recordings of thunderstorms captured mid-taco, Rundle makes the deeply personal feel mythic. Yet he never oversells the drama. Like Radiohead at their most inward-facing or Big Thief in their most vulnerable drift, 'Wait, Sky' draws you into its emotional gravity by whispering just loud enough to make you lean in.

Opening with the brief trembling beauty of 'Begin, Perfect', the artist introduces the tuba that threads the album together, recorded at a distance, with ambient life bleeding into the take. It’s a strange and gentle gesture that repeats throughout the album, in moments where grief and tenderness pull against each other.

Lyrically, 'Wait, Sky' is a study in reckoning. 'Depose' snarls softly at the absurdity of power structures, while 'Anything' is a lightning-flash protest against love unreturned and identities unrecognised. The rage simmers beneath fingerpicked guitars and sighing synths, delivered with a voice that seems to know exactly how much to reveal, and how much to let the silence carry.

But it’s not all melancholy. There’s a wild, glowing curiosity here. Rundle plays with lo-fi textures and acoustic layering at every given opportunity. His collaboration with producer Elisabeth Ellison also adds focus and elasticity. You feel her presence in the trust that allowed the frontman to stretch into bolder arrangements and honest songwriting.

If 'Wait, Sky' were a film, it’d be the kind where nothing explodes, yet you leave the theatre shaken. Jesse Blake Rundle has made a record that feels like it was waiting just for you. And when it arrives, all tuba fanfares, open wounds, and twilight wonder, it just asks you to stay and fully embrace the storm.