Set your alarms for HIBAW's new single

Some musical endeavours make waves, while others are waves themselves.

Led by Cork songwriter Pat Carey, indie folk project How I Became A Wave is staying up late this month to release its new single ‘5:00’ (pronounced 5am).

The beautiful and delicate new track will drop on Tuesday, just two days after HIBAW perform as part of this year’s Quiet Lights Festival in Cork.

Inspired by the Eavan Boland poetry collection ‘Night Feed’, ‘05:00’ sees the collective explore more minimal textures, featuring luminous piano at its heart - composed by frequent RTÉ Concert Orchestra conductor Cormac McCarthy and performed by Rory McCarthy - alongside a delicate yet bold string accompaniment by cellist Laura McFadden that perfectly complements Kealan Kenny’s pedal steel. The song’s fragility is echoed in Carey’s vocal performance, which — as listeners of his previous single ‘Fading Out’ will know — reveals remarkable range. Here, he allows himself the space to be both vulnerable and understated.

“I've always been interested in exploring how small, seemingly meaningless moments can be interpreted as being a kind of portal to something greater, something universal,” explains Carey.

“The mundane can be transformed into the timeless when the moment is given the respect that it demands. That time of the night/morning lends itself to being a liminal space, a period of magic - a kind of thinning of the veil - where beauty can dwell in the most ordinary of spaces.”

‘05:00’ is the follow-up to previous singles ‘Fading Out’ and ‘Cycles’, both of which have seen strong radio play and media coverage as well performing well on streaming services. The track does a great job at capturing the heart of How I Became A Wave: a project defined by its tenderness, emotion, and quiet strength, with a collective approach to live shows that mirrors its ethos of connection and care.

Recent live shows at Cork’s Sounds From A Safe Harbour, Quiet Lights festivals, as well as Dublin’s National Concert Hall have seen How I Became A Wave captivate audiences. Support slots with heavyweight musical contemporaries such as Villagers, Lisa Hannigan, Gemma Hayes, John Spillane, and Ailbhe Reddy have helped to solidify the artist as an important emerging voice in Irish music. This January will also see How I Became A Wave showcase at Your Roots Are Showing, Ireland’s leading folk music conference.

How I Became A Wave will release new single ‘5:00’ this coming Tuesday.

In the meantime, the collective will perform at Caughlan’s in Cork city this Sunday night from 5pm as part of the Quiet Lights Festival.