Food Pairing 101: What Goes Well With "Gone" by Day Wave?

Imagine yourself at an Italian restaurant. I'm not talking the fine dining sort of Italian, more like the greasy red and white checkerboard hole-in-the-wall place. The man behind the counter doesn't even take your order, he just sort of waves you off, and brings out this gigantic calzone. You have no idea exactly what is inside this family sized hot pocket. You think you do, you've eaten enough calzones to know they generally follow some rules with what they put inside, but there's always the chance that this place has taken tradition and turned it on its head.

Day Wave's new single "Gone" is sort of like that calzone. Because Day Wave's name is attached to the track, you might have this idea that the song will be loaded with lo-fi vocals and warm spacey music. But then you hear him start off with the line "You think I'm still the same in every single way, but I changed" and all of a sudden it dawns on you. 2015 is gone. The Day Wave that we fell in love with last year has evolved, albeit slightly, into something new.

"Gone," the first glimpse at Day Wave's new EP Hard to Read (due out March 5th via Grand Jury/Fat Possum) is lusher and more ethereal than some of his previous work. This has a lot to do with how he arranges the synths. The track embraces the warm sunshine in a similar way to it's predecessors, but there is also a bit of darkness, like a calzone baked and placed in the window to cool while a mid-day summer storm approaches on the horizon. Day Wave's dialing back of the lo-fi vocal effect helps him move towards this darkness. His feelings of loneliness and being misunderstood are no longer buried beneath layers and layers of vocal effect and sounds. They are now more out in the open for others to hear.

So what does one pair with an evolving Day Wave and his new, lusher, slightly darkened, summery song? A calzone of course. My calzone of choice would be the spinach and cheese version featured in the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. The light/dark balance is created by the tofu and spinach that line the inside of the dough. Also in there is a sesame seed based vegan parmesan. Nothing symbolizes being misunderstood quite like sesame seeds that pose as parmesan. The whole wheat dough pays homage to what has come before but it is also slightly new and updated. It also does a nice job of hiding what is inside.

Eat a calzone. Listen to "Gone":