REVIEW: Windwaker - smile, you're on camera
WINDWAKER's smile, you're on camera is packed with so many sounds that it is overwhelming in the most delightful way possible. The Australian band's third album finds them continuing to blur the boundaries between metalcore, nu-metal, electronic music and pop, creating something that feels as chaotic as it is infectious. From rap-metal verses and bubblegum riffs to stadium-sized choruses and bloodcurdling screams, the record pulls from seemingly every corner of modern heavy music. In the modern scene where genre boundaries are becoming increasingly difficult to define, WINDWAKER seem particularly uninterested in drawing any themselves.
low immediately establishes the album's identity, opening with a collision of rap-metal and electronic influences that feels like a culmination of everything modern metal has spent the past decade experimenting with. The bubblegum riffs and infectious hooks are almost disarmingly playful, making the sudden shift into a crushing breakdown all the more effective. It is an introduction that makes clear just how much WINDWAKER are willing to throw into a single song.
Meanwhile, closer takes a more melodic approach, with reverb-soaked vocals and a pop-leaning instrumental that initially feels worlds away from the band's heavier material. Beneath that polished exterior, however, there is an unmistakable emotional angst that gradually reveals itself. Crunchy guitars and bass give the track a much-needed weight, but it is the screams that truly make it work, cutting through the melody with an intensity that threatens to pull the song apart. Where low thrives on the sheer number of sounds it can fit together, closer finds its strength in the tension between its softer and heavier moments.
That tension becomes even more unpredictable on click, which leans into nu-metal with a fast-paced, aggressive sound driven by electronic flourishes and particularly playful drumming. RinRin's contribution adds another dimension to the track, her vocals bringing an eclectic, almost sugary pop sensibility that sits surprisingly well against the surrounding aggression.
dna brings the album's introspective themes into sharper focus, exploring the frustration of recognising your own destructive tendencies while questioning whether you can ever truly escape them. Its subject matter gives the record's wider fixation on authenticity a more personal dimension, shifting the focus away from the expectations of others and towards the uncomfortable process of confronting yourself. It is an idea that feels particularly relevant to an album concerned with the performance of identity, where the desire to be understood exists alongside the fear of revealing too much.
One of the album's most striking moments of contrast is with burn, its unexpectedly heavy outro feeling almost like an entirely different track. Rather than disrupting the song, however, the sudden shift gives it a satisfying sense of unpredictability, reinforcing the feeling that WINDWAKER are most comfortable when they refuse to settle into a single sound. victory lap and overlord continue to explore the band's familiar blend of melodic hooks and heavier instrumentation, demonstrating just how readily they can move between the two without abandoning the identity that holds the record together.
That said, the album's constant movement between styles does occasionally become less surprising as it progresses. lie to me and wait for me lean much further into pop, trading some of the record's heavier aggression for infectious melodies and a lighter, more immediately accessible sound. The two feel like sister tracks, sharing a similar approach that highlights WINDWAKER's ability to write catchy songs without relying on their heavier tendencies. Yet their similarities also make the album's recurring formula more apparent.
Having spent so much of its opening stretch demonstrating just how dramatically the band can shift between genres, the record becomes slightly less unpredictable when several songs begin to occupy similar melodic territory. loser provides a welcome change of pace, leaning into a hyperpop-meets-metalcore sound that feels like one of the album's most unexpected surprises. Its playful beats and distorted guitars push the band's genre-blurring instincts into particularly colourful territory, while Mikaela Delgado's feature adds another layer to the song's already eclectic, Porter Robinson-esque sound. The collaboration feels especially effective, giving the track an identity of its own rather than simply adding another voice to the mix. some days closes out the record's explorations with a more familiar combination of melodic accessibility and heavier influences, bringing the album back towards the sounds that have defined much of its journey.
Ultimately, smile, you're on camera is a record built around contradiction. WINDWAKER pair some of their most accessible melodies with moments of true aggression, moving between bubblegum pop and crushing metalcore with little interest in maintaining a consistent sonic identity. At their best, these contrasts feel entirely natural, creating music that is as fun as it is unpredictable. Elsewhere, the similarities between some of the more melodic tracks make the album feel slightly less adventurous than its opening stretch promises. Even so, there is something compelling about a band so willing to embrace the absurdity of their own influences, refusing to treat heavy music and pop sensibilities as mutually exclusive.
Score: 7/10
Smile, You're On Camera was released on 23rd October 2026 via Fearless Records.
Words: Adrian Chapman
Photos: Windwaker
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