“Believe that a song can change the world”.

For Wideawake, the Austin-based power-pop/rock five-piece, this was the underlining mantra hanging in the air of the group’s recording studio. Each thump of the bass drum and each tingling guitar chord resonates with the thoughts of inspiration; of turning pain into an element of hope, of encouragement. In short, it’s music to make you feel alive.

This is the blueprint for Wideawake, a band mastering the ebbs and flows of triumphant contradiction. With a weaving of pop and alternative rock, they turn loss into optimism, sorrow into hope. And with their label debut Something That We Can’t Let Go, Wideawake has been able to fully translate that message in the group’s own music. After twelve years as a band and two years spent working on the album, Wideawake has garnered their own sort of triumph. After moving to Austin from a small northwest town, the group learned how to be a rock band in the smoky confines of Texas venues. Wideawake has parlayed the trials and rigors of the musician lifestyle to this very moment. The platform has been set, and Wideawake comes prepared with climaxing choruses, pain-strained vocal lines, and breathtaking crescendos.

Recorded with CJ Eiriksson (U2, Blue October, Matchbox Twenty, Jack’s Mannequin), Something That We Can’t Let Go is the pinnacle of the band’s career. It is both accessible and challenging, an effort in facing the roughest patches of life to bring out our best. Tracks like “Higher” and “Stay” shine with gleaming choruses and driving guitars, reminiscent of a more powerful version of contemporaries The Fray or a modernized Matchbox Twenty. The ambitious “Maybe Tonight, Maybe Tomorrow” is the most poignant of the band’s offerings, dabbling in acoustic minimalism and a stirring climax. The track’s proceeds have all gone to support another Austin inspiration: The Lance Armstrong Foundation

The group’s sensibilities attain a personal connection while reaching for something bigger, something more epic than the everyday. “We all need something bigger than ourselves to hold our heads high” croons Leger, reaching an assured epiphany on “Bigger Than Ourselves”. In doing, Wideawake reminds us that faith in a better tomorrow is justified.

With this personal connection in tow, it makes sense that Wideawake’s sound has served as the backdrop for Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, Freedom Writers, CNN, The Real World, and Dawson’s Creek, amongst other programs. This connection has also transitioned to the stage, where the band has performed with the likes of Switchfoot, Blue October, and Sheryl Crow.

After twelve years of being one of the best unsigned bands in the world, Something That We Can’t Let Go has set the platform to expand on Wideawake’s already-devoted fan base. Whether the band’s infectious, emotive music can change the world remains to be seen. But rest assured that it can connect with something universal within all of us, inspiring us to find the things worth searching for.