Australian pop punk band Waxflower lament lost connections in the heart-wrenching “Misaligned Love,” an achingly intimate and emotionally intense anthem for star-crossed lovers everywhere.
Stream: “Misaligned Love” – Waxflower ft. Sydney Sprague
I think I’m mourning the loss of something I never had, but God, I wanted it so bad, it’s misaligned love…
No matter how much we dream about the future; no matter how much we prepare for it and try to set ourselves up for success, life often has something else in store. Time will push two intertwined bodies down different paths, to the point where what was once intimate becomes distant, and what was once shared becomes lost forever. Australian pop punk band Waxflower lament lost connections in “Misaligned Love,” an achingly intimate and emotionally intense will they/won’t they anthem.
When I left
Did you realise you want it?
Far too late for me to call it
What I want? Let me go
Hey sorry
Sorry that you’ve now just picked me
Did you realise that you can’t have me?
Do you still wanna know?
If I change
Would you sway?
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering the Nick Hargans and Giles Higginson directed music video for “Misaligned Love,” the churning single from Waxflower’s recently released sophomore EP, The Sound of What Went Wrong (April 29 via Rude Records). Consisting of Tristan Higginson, Daniel Seymour, Nick Hargens, and Jordan Beard, Waxflower formed in Brisbane, Australia in 2020 and have quickly made a name for themselves and their dynamic, emotionally charged pop punk / alternative rock sound. The band have already shared stages with Simple Plan, The Maine, Stand Atlantic, Between You & Me, and many more over the past two and a half years.
The Sound of What Went Wrong follows 2021’s debut EP We Might Be Alright, and sees Waxflower tighter and more sure of themselves than ever. Songs like the searing, soaring “Soak” and the riff-fueled, hard-hitting “Ring” find the four-piece playing with dynamics and employing their catchiest melodies and grooves to date, all while treating listeners to incredibly intimate and revealing lyrics that plunge into the darkest depths of the self.
“Misaligned Love” is a new reckoning for star-crossed lovers everywhere.
Featuring Rude Records labelmate Sydney Sprague, who released her own critically acclaimed debut album maybe i will see you at the end of the world just last year, “Misaligned Love” radiates with visceral, raw turmoil in the wake of a heavy loss. Waxflower come to life in a dramatic chorus that tries its best to capture a moment they know can’t (and won’t) last forever:
So set your eyes on me I’m falling
Closer to your frame each morning
Put your arms on me and don’t let go
Just set your eyes on me and don’t let go
“‘Misaligned Love is about two separate timelines that never merged,” Waxflower’s Tristan Higginson tells Atwood Magazine. “A will they or won’t they anthem for those who have found themselves pining for the right person, at the wrong time. Whilst most love songs are about serendipitous fate and attractions, ‘Misaligned Love’ is a rawer look at those relationships that never quite eventuate. They leave you wondering what could have been, what your future could have held, and what your alternative timeline would have been.”
It’s a funeral song, for the love that never had the chance to spark life.
Directed by the band’s own guitarist Nick Hargans and Giles Higginson, the “Misaligned Love” music video was shot at a rooftop parking structure in Sydney, and centers around Daniel Seymour’s old Volvo.
“In the music video, we only had a small amount of time in between two tours to shoot it, so we wanted to do something simple,” Waxflower’s Tristan Higginson explains. “We went back to a roof that we shot press shots at, using Daniel’s old Volvo as the centrepiece of the shoot. Sydney sent through some home video for her feature, and our talented guitarist Nick Hargans pieced it all together.”
A hail mary
To tell me that you’ll never love me
Just as long as you don’t see me happy
Do you still wanna know?
If I say… that I’ll stay
So set your eyes on me I’m falling
Closer to your frame each morning
Put your arms on me and don’t let go
Just set your eyes on me and don’t let go
Just like the snapshot of intimacy and connection forever enshrined in this song, the “Misaligned Love” video doesn’t technically move anywhere: It stays in place, gently imploding as the world keeps turning.
“For the music video we wanted to keep it simple and classic,” director Giles Higginson notes. “Stripping back the idea to just Tristan, alone, in a car park. It’s a personal and intimate song, so it only felt right to keep the video as such.”
“We shot ‘Misaligned Love’ in a car park nearby where we rehearsed, in Brisbane, Australia,” Nick Hargans adds. “I sent Dan a couple of video concepts when we were chatting about the idea; we wanted to do something simple and tasteful for the video – keeping it to just ourselves producing it.”
“He reached out to Sydney and we’re so thankful that she was onboard with the idea and helped us out by filming her own parts, from so far away. It’s been so great being able to tour again, but it has meant less time to work on creative visuals, so we managed to fit this one in to help create a memorable accompaniment for the video.”
Waxflower don’t go down lightly: Their music and their emotions erupt together in a fiery inferno throughout “Misaligned Love,” roaring and reeling in a cinematic display of pure, visceral, unapologetically vulnerable heartache and lovesickness. One of the most powerful moments comes towards the song’s tail end, where Sprague and Higginson tear into their situation with refreshing energy and an surprisingly candid, painfully honest outlook: “I think I’m mourning the loss of something I never had,” they sing together. “… I think of us in the kitchen, doorway and on my bed.“
“So sway and I’ll sway,” Sprague exhales softly in a brief reprieve before the final explosive chorus. Her words conjure up the lasting image of two silhouettes moving back and forth, clutching each other and soaking in every aspect of their present. Both know it won’t last: In the morning, they’ll go their separate ways, and the love they shared will be lost to time.
I think I’m mourning the loss of something I never had
But god I wanted it so bad
It’s misaligned love
I wanna be strong
I think of us in the kitchen, doorway and on my bed
God I can’t do this again
It’s misaligned love
I wanna be strong
So sway and I’ll sway
“Misaligned Love” hurts in all the right spots. It’s a captivating and heart-wrenching three-minute anthem, and a reminder of just how good a vessel pop punk music can be at capturing the best and worst parts of love. Stream Waxflower’s new music video exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and be sure to stream the full The Sound of What Went Wrong EP, out now!
So set your eyes on me I’m falling
Closer to your frame each morning
Put your arms on me and don’t let go
Just set your eyes on me and don’t let go
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Stream: “Misaligned Love” – Waxflower ft. Sydney Sprague
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