“SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN” – Waterparks Review

Review Amber Bintliff

After a few weeks of cryptic chartreuse-colored social media posts, Waterparks have made their return with new single “SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN.” The new song comes just nearly six months after the release of their fifth studio album INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. Waterparks have been known for boldly departing from the traditional pop-punk sound and consistently embracing new experimental and unique elements with every new release. “SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN” serves as a true testament of the band’s evolving creativity and artistic vision. The upbeat, synth-heavy tune features lyrics that focus on lead singer Awsten Knight being infatuated with a newly found love interest. It follows him as he details his disbelief that this person actually doesn’t sneak out of Heaven straight to the passenger seat of his car every time they meet up.

Aside from the title itself, lines such as “You put away your halo,” and “I’ll have to jump the gates when I die / Cause they won’t let me inside,” tie into the religious themes and imagery found in Awsten’s writing and visuals previously seen throughout INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. Fans have also made a connection between “SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN” and previous track “BRAINWASHED,” noting the obvious call-outs to the song name in the lyrics and the similarity in adlibs and vocal patterns.

Additionally, the use of bright green in the social media posts leading up to its release, including one post stating “THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY” over a chartreuse background, began to have fans everywhere speculating that a deluxe version of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY was coming. This is also notably due to the color scheme, since green is the opposite of red (aka, the color associated with their previous record) on the color wheel. Coincidentally, the single was released on October 11, which is also the anniversary of Waterparks’ third studio album FANDOM, which serves as the band’s original green era. Whether “SNEAKING OUT OF HEAVEN” may be a continuation of the last album or something entirely new, I sure am glad that it snuck its way out of Awsten’s brain and allowed for this new project to be born.

Image from YouTube.