An exciting couple of months for Brooklyn indie rock outfit Wild Pink, whose album ILYSM sees its release at the end of next week, October 14th. It’ll certainly be a highly anticipated album, following a seriously thrilling couple of singles from the band in recent months.
First came Hold My Hand in August, a duet with cathartic, Tennessee native indie rock artist Julien Baker. A tranquil love letter, brimming with delicate vocals (the blend of Baker’s vocals with Ross’s is natural, approaching perfection) and gentle lyricism. The gorgeous track lays the foundation for what should be a beautiful album!
Then, almost exactly a month later, See You Better Now follows it, this time a collaboration with the legendary Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis. A different vibe, but completely as stunning. It’s mellow and calming in a way that’s entirely unique to Wild Pink. In fact, listening to See You Better Now for the first time was pretty therapeutic! That grounded, soothing feel is encapsulated in both of the recent tracks, but lyrically this track feels like arriving at a destination, where Hold My Hand feels more established, further along in the story. Listening to the two songs in succession feels like opening chapters of the same narrative, and I look forward to unveiling further chapters on the 14th. Speaking on the track, Ross said “See You Better Now” is the most straightforward love song on the album and definitely inspired by Tom Petty and Travelling Wilburys. It was one of the last songs I wrote for this album and a really fun song to record in the studio. It’s still wild to me that J Mascis did the guitar solo on it.”
ILSYM has high stakes to be a much loved album. 2021’s A Billion Little Lights, Wild Pink’s previous LP, was widely acclaimed, receiving copious praise from the likes of Billboard and The New York Times, who name Wild Pink ‘open-air, stargazing indie rock’. What’s more, ILYSM has been co-produced by frontman John Ross alongside Justin Pizzoferrato (of Pixies, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr to name a few!) and Peter Silberman of The Antlers. A wonderful combination, and doubtlessly wonderful res=ults can be expected! Preorder the album here, and be sure to listen come October 14th!
Photo Credit: Mitchell Wojcik
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