Our second mini comic of the week accompanies a narrative synth-rock-pop song called ‘Daniel’ from Los Angeles-based duo Bad Wave. The pair called on illustrator Aaron Miller to make the artwork inspired by the song’s so-called “weird sci-fi vibes”, which comes courtesy of the rising and falling synthetic keys, bouncy electronic nuances and reverberated vocals that come echoing to our ears across the galaxies. The song has real movement to it thanks to the developing story line, dance rhythms and progressive percussion, which probably will induce movement in the listener too. It’s music designed to be enjoyed, to be danced to, but there’s also a melancholy to be found here in the lyrics. Our attention is especially drawn to the refrain, “you were alive, so alive, and you didn’t know,” emphasised not only by the comic strip, but also the lead singer’s climatic vocal performance. - HT