For years, The Elovaters have occupied a fascinating corner of modern reggae rock, one where beachside melodies collide with arena sized ambition and jam band freedom. But on Shark Belly Motel, the Massachusetts outfit finally sounds like a band fully embracing every side of its identity at once.
The group’s fifth full length album arrives at a moment when genre lines feel increasingly meaningless, and instead of resisting that shift, The Elovaters lean directly into it. Across the record’s sprawling tracklist, sun soaked grooves sit comfortably beside towering choruses, slick pop instincts, and moments that feel built for giant festival fields at sunset.
What keeps Shark Belly Motel from collapsing under the weight of its own ambition is that none of it feels calculated.
“Honestly, it’s just about whatever the song calls for,” frontman Jackson Wetherbee explains. “Everybody in the band is pretty eclectic for what we listen to. We’re never trying to just write in one way. If a song is calling for it, we’re not afraid to go down whatever avenue that’s bringing us.”
That openness defines the record. “Bills to Pay” transforms everyday anxiety into a massive communal sing along, while “Pockets Full of Sand” drifts with effortless West Coast cool. Elsewhere, “Jean Jacket” taps into loose, groove heavy textures that feel equally indebted to surf culture and late night jam sessions. Then there is “Air Tonight,” one of the album’s heavier moments, showing a band increasingly comfortable pushing beyond the boundaries often attached to reggae rooted acts.
The connective tissue holding it all together is producer Jon Joseph, whose recent work around the broader reggae and alternative world has quietly made him one of the most influential sonic architects in the scene. Wetherbee credits Joseph with helping sharpen the band’s instincts rather than overcomplicating them.
“He’s really good at knowing what the song needs in certain areas,” Wetherbee says. “There’s not quite as much fat you have to trim at the very end. He has a really good ear and mind for just like, ‘It sounds good now. I don’t think we need to mess with it.’”
That natural energy bleeds throughout the album. Nothing feels sterile or overly polished. The songs breathe. They stretch. They sound lived in. Wetherbee describes Joseph’s studio presence as part producer, part motivator. “He’s like your cheerleader and your producer at the same time,” he says. “He’s always jumping around, making us laugh, always has really good ideas.”
That chemistry also extends to the album’s guest appearances. Features from Bryce Vine, Dirty Heads vocalist Jared Watson, and DENM never feel forced or strategically inserted for streaming algorithms. Instead, they sound like genuine extensions of the songs themselves. “First, if you can hear the artist on the song, that’s really helpful,” Wetherbee says. “With Bryce Vine, the minute I wrote ‘Pockets Full of Sand,’ I just heard Bryce Vine on it.”
Five albums into their career, The Elovaters are no longer trying to prove they belong in the conversation. Shark Belly Motel sounds like the work of a band confident enough to stop chasing scenes and simply trust their instincts.
“We’re just trying to outdo the last album,” Wetherbee says. “Better songwriting. I hope people think the songwriting got better, the band got tighter, maybe it slaps a little harder in your car.”
It does more than that. Shark Belly Motel feels like the sound of a band kicking open its own ceiling.
Watch the full interview with Jackson from The Elovators Below!
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