Why? - The well I fell into
Waterlines / CargoVÖ: 02.08.2024
Im Guten auseinander
Ein herzliches Masel tov zur Label-Gründung, Yoni Wolf. Denn dieses achte Why?-Studioalbum erscheint über Waterlines, dem von ihm jüngst mitgegründeten Label, welches die Nachfolge zum in die Jahre gekommenen Anticon-Kollektiv antritt. Das war es dann aber auch schon mit der Heiterkeit, denn "The well I fell into" klingt zwar nicht durchgängig danach, ist aber eigentlich eine bittersüße Liebeskummer-Platte. Ohne jede Bitterkeit, dafür mit teils abstrakten, gelegentlich auch soft bis minimalistisch gehaltenen Instrumentals, auf denen ganz sanft ein paar Strophen über Selbstheilung und Sehnsucht abgelegt wurden. Im Vergleich zu früheren Alben finden sich hier kaum noch Elemente von HipHop und auch der nerdig anmutende Indie-Pop weicht einer tranceartigen Folk-Kulisse, die es so zuletzt vielleicht bei "Eskimo snow" gab.
Die übertriebensten, aber gleichzeitig auch tragisch-schönsten Zeilen gibt es bei "The letters, etc.", von den drei Singles vorab – neben "Jump" und "G-dzillah G'dolah" – die spürbar beste. Um trotz einleitender Passagen wie "Classic air is a vacuum, where you are not / And I'm a can of Coke, flattened by a thousand cars / How strange to be strangers, after what we was", immer noch cool und gleichzeitig ergreifend zu wirken, bedarf es durchaus einer gewissen Qualität. Daran mangelt es ja auch nicht, wie das noch melancholischere "Marigold" unterstreicht. Langsame Drums, ein trostloses Klavier, Streicher-Arrangements und wortgewaltige Lyrics über eine Scheidung, die an zynischen Metaphern nicht sparen, hier ist wirklich alles dabei, was es für eine wehleidige Trennung braucht. Trotzdem stehen hier, wie auch bei den anderen Tracks, bewusst Selbstheilung und Respekt für die gemeinsame Zeit vor Bitterkeit und Enttäuschung im Mittelpunkt.
Experimente in Richtung Rap oder Alternative wurden für diese Platte scheinbar auf einen Track heruntergebrochen, andererseits ist dabei mit "When we do the Dance" eine der stärksten Nummern herausgekommen. Was auch immer hier passiert, mit dem steigenden Tempo, den einsetzenden Vocal-Spuren und merkwürdigen Breaks, es ist hochspannend und hinterlässt trotz oder gerade durch die Verwirrung ein angenehmes Gefühl. Bis auf das zu kurze Intro, das interessante, aber leider zu verfahrene "Versa go!" sowie den passablen Closer "Sending out a pamphlet" greift keiner der Songs diese Stimmung nochmal wirklich auf. Ist ja soweit in Ordnung, Tracks wie "What's me?", "Sin imperial" oder "Atreyu" überzeugen fraglos allesamt, musikalisch wie textlich. Bloß hätte es bei all der hoffnungslosen, selten am Pathos sparenden Inszenierung gerne noch etwas mehr Variation geben können.
Highlights & Tracklist
Highlights
- Marigold
- When we do the dance
- The letters, etc.
Tracklist
- Lauderdale detour
- Marigold
- Brand New
- G-dzillah G'dolah
- When we do the dance
- Jump
- Later at the loon
- Nis(s)an dreams, pt. 1
- The letters, etc.
- What's me?
- Sin imperial
- Atreyu
- Versa go!
- Sending out a pamphlet
Im Forum kommentieren
fakeboy
2024-08-13 09:01:23
Freudig reingehört weil ich Why? sehr mag (v.a. die Alben von Elephant Eyelash bis Eskimo Snow). Ist leider seeehr langweilig geraten. Holt mich überhaupt nicht ab...
Armin
2024-07-31 21:21:09- Newsbeitrag
Frisch rezensiert.
Meinungen?
Armin
2024-05-20 17:48:30- Newsbeitrag
WHY? ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM THE WELL I FELL INTO
OUT AUGUST 2ND VIA WATERLINES
Hear the first single “The Letters, Etc.”
WHY? today announced their eighth full-length album The Well I Fell Into will be released on August 2nd, 2024. The beloved band—led by Cincinnati songwriter Yoni Wolf—has also shared the soaring, diaristic first single “The Letters, etc.” “This song was partially written for a year or two but the words to finish it just wouldn’t come until some further life experiences led it into its current incarnation,” explains Wolf. “Though potentially filled with paranoid conjecture, it is also a song of acceptance, with only best wishes upon embarking on a difficult long-term estrangement. T’ruah. Love and let live.” The Well I Fell Into is Wolf at his most cohesive and poignant: an autopsy of heartbreak, the album charts the ups and downs of a devastating breakup while trading bitterness for healing. Self-released on Waterlines, his new label that follows in the footsteps of Anticon—the trailblazing artist-run collective he co-founded—its 14 tracks stand as the band’s prettiest and most immediate work yet.
WHY? today also announced an extensive North American tour, which includes stops at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom (August 22nd) and LA’s Lodge Room (September 14th). A full itinerary is listed below and tickets will go on-sale this Wednesday, May 22nd, HERE.
For nearly three decades, WHY? have thrived in subverting expectations. Across seven unpredictable and adventurous studio albums, the band has stretched the fringes of psychedelic pop, hip-hop, and electronic music. No matter the genre experiments and thematic departures, their discography is remarkably consistent, anchored by Wolf’s disarming lyrical transparency. His writing is provocative, self-lacerating, and always considered, coming from a place of blunt emotional openness. “Making a WHY? album is an opportunity for me to button up a period of my life,” Wolf explains. “I’m bad at realising how I feel or how something is affecting me in the moment. Things just sit inside me, but writing is a way to really take stock.” Though the dissolution of a years-long relationship inspired Wolf to start writing, he considers The Well I Fell Into autofiction, a chance to interrogate his grief and his journey to acceptance rather than to air out the real-life details of a painful loss or pick at emotional scabs. “This is not a bitter kiss off,” he says. “While the songwriting was cathartic, I can see my life beyond some story or mythology I’ve cornered myself into artistically. I’m not getting stuck in sentiment like I might have in my 20s.”
Though every WHY? album since 2012’s Mumps, Etc. was recorded at various home studios, Wolf and his bandmates Josiah Wolf, Doug McDiarmid, and Andrew Broder tracked The Well I Fell Into with Brian Joseph (Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver) at Eau Claire, Wisconsin’s Hive Studio. The move resulted in compelling and accessible arrangements that enhance the strong hooks grounding the songs. “On this one, I'm very interested in classic songwriting,” explains Wolf, who also enlisted a cast of collaborators to flesh out these recordings, including Gia Margaret, Finom’s Macie Stewart, Lala Lala’s Lillie West, Serengeti, and Ada Lea. “I want my songs to be able to be played unadorned by just one person and still hold up. Any production frills should only serve to elevate the song further without being relied upon to tell the story.”
The Well I Fell Into is an ultimately hopeful record. While it deals with messy emotions, it tackles them with a disarmingly lucid candor and a profound grace. There are no external villains and no wallowing, just a frank dissection of the past and a diligence to move forward. For that, the album stands near the top of the WHY? catalog as a document of an artist pushing through and finding some sense of peace.
Full LP bio, hi-res press photos and LP art are available HERE.
The Well I Fell Into artwork | Hi-res HERE
The Well I Fell Into Tracklist:
1. Lauderdale Detour
2. Marigold
3. Brand New
4. G-dzillah G’dolah
5. When We Do The Dance
6. Jump
7. Later at The Loon
8. Nis(s)an Dreams, Pt. 1
9. The Letters, Etc.
10. What’s Me?
11. Sin Imperial
12. Atreyu
13. Versa Go!
14. Sending Out a Pamphlet
WHY? Live Dates:
8/16 - Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
8/17 - Terminal West - Atlanta, GA
8/18 - Motorco - Durham, NC
8/20 - The Atlantis - Washington DC
8/21 - Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA
8/22 - Bowery Ballroom - New York City, NY
8/24 - The Sinclair - Boston, MA
8/26 - Velvet Underground - Toronto, ON
8/27 - El Club - Detroit, MI
8/28 - The Outset - Chicago, IL
8/29 - Vivarium - Milwaukee, WI
9/4 - Off Broadway - St. Louis, MO
9/6 - Deep Ellum Art Co. - Dallas, TX
9/7 - Mohawk - Austin, TX
9/10 - Club Congress - Tucson, AZ
9/11 - Rebel Lounge - Phoenix, AZ
9/13 - VooDoo Room - San Diego, CA
9/14 - Lodge Room - Los Angeles, CA
9/15 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
9/17 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR
9/18 - Washington Hall - Seattle, WA
9/20 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT
9/21 - Meow Wolf - Denver, CO
9/23 - Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
9/24 - Slowdown - Omaha, NE
9/25 - Turf Club - Minneapolis, MN
9/27 - Woodward - Cincinnati, OH
9/28 - Blue Room - Nashville, TN
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