NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A pit bull puppy peeing off a balcony. Mounted antlers in the kitchen on a crooked nail. Pink boiled eggs stay afloat in the brine. For its dedicated audience, the North Carolina is an exemplar in evocative songwriting, where whole worlds are found in short lyrical lines.
And that says nothing of what they sound like. The most exciting band in is informed by and , a distinctive sonic fabric of lap steel, guitar fuzz, folksy and jagged vocals.
On Sept. 19, they will release their sixth and most ambitious full-length, 鈥淏leeds.鈥�
鈥淢y songwriting is just better on this album,鈥� Wednesday's singer and songwriter Karly Hartzman explains. 鈥淭hings are said more succinctly ... the immediacy of these songs was the main growth.鈥�
Wednesday began as Hartzman's solo project, evidenced in 2018's sweet-sounding 鈥測ep definitely.鈥� They became a full band on 2020's 鈥淚 Was Trying to Describe You to Someone,鈥� a dive into guitar distortions, and 2021's 鈥淭win Plagues,鈥� a further refinement of their 鈥渃reek rock鈥� sound. The lineup consists of Hartzman, bassist Ethan Baechtold, lap steel player Xandy Chelmis, guitarist Jake Lenderman and drummer Alan Miller. Some also tour with (Hartzman and Lenderman previously dated.)
Wednesday's last album, the narrative 鈥淩at Saw God,鈥� was named one of by The Associated Press partially for its uncanny ability to dive into the particularities and . 鈥淏leeds鈥� sharpens those tools.
On 鈥淏leeds,鈥� a band evolves
鈥淥riginally, I was going to call it 鈥楥arolina Girl鈥� but my bandmates did not like that,'鈥� Hartzman jokes.
鈥淏leeds鈥� comes from the explosive opening track, 鈥淩eality TV Argument Bleeds.鈥�
She likes how the band name and album title sound together 鈥� 鈥�'Wednesday Bleeds,' which I feel like I do, when I play music ... I'm almost, in a way, bloodletting and exorcising a demon.鈥�
Lyrically, 鈥淏leeds鈥� features some of Wednesday's best work 鈥� even in the revisiting of an older song, that hilariously references and the released in 2010 鈥� a kind of specificity born from Hartzman's writing practices. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she and Lenderman 鈥渨rote 20 lines of writing each day,鈥� a practice adopted from . She's also a documentarian of memory: She takes notes of things her friends say and images that are affecting, to later collage them together in songs.
鈥淭he well never runs dry,鈥� Hartzman says. 鈥淏ecause I鈥檝e admitted not everything can come from inside. I need to look outward outside of myself for inspiration.鈥�
Remembering, she says, 鈥渋s the goal for most of the (expletive) I do. ... I care. I want stories to persist.鈥�
Storytelling through song
鈥淏leeds鈥� manages cohesion across a variance of sound. 鈥淲asp鈥� is hard-core catharsis; lead single 鈥淓lderberry Wine鈥� drops guitar noise for shimmery, fermented country. 鈥淲ound Up Here (By Holding On),鈥� which references the Appalachian poet Evan Gray, is a pretty indie rock track about a hometown hero who drowns.
The quietest moment on the album, the plucked 鈥淭he Way Love Goes,鈥� was written as 鈥渁 love song for Jake when we were still together. 鈥楨lderberry Wine鈥� as well.'鈥� Hartzman explains. 鈥溾�楨lderberry Wine鈥� is kind of talking about me noticing slight changes in a relationship.鈥�
These are not breakup songs; they exist right before the point of dissolution. 鈥淪weet song is a long con / I drove ya to the airport with the E-brake on,鈥� she sings on the latter.
Later: 鈥淪ometimes in my head I give up and / Flip the board completely.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 understanding how sound creates emotion. That鈥檚 what I鈥檓 learning over time,鈥� Hartzman says of her musical growth. 鈥淚鈥檓 also listening to more music with every year that passes. So, my understanding of what鈥檚 possible, or what I can be inspired by, shifts.鈥�
A number of the songs pull from childhood memory, as they always have across Wednesday's discography. 鈥淚 think about growing up a lot,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen I think of trying to tell ... a story that鈥檚 vivid and intense, that鈥檚 just the easiest time in my life, where everything felt vivid and intense.鈥�
Longtime fans of the band will find recurring themes and characters from past songs. For example, 鈥淕ary's鈥� from their 2021 album returns as the 鈥淏leeds鈥� closer in 鈥淕ary鈥檚 II,鈥� where he gets into a bar fight.
鈥淚n a way, I鈥檓 writing the same songs over and over, but I鈥檓 just trying to make them better,鈥� she says.
There is always more humanity to excavate. And often, those emotions, 鈥渢hey aren't done with you,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭hey're not letting you go.鈥�
So, let the bloodletting begin.
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A previous version of this story incorrectly listed Margo Schulz as Wednesday's bassist. Ethan Baechtold is the current bassist. Schulz parted ways with the group before the release of the 2023 album 鈥淩at Saw God.鈥�
Maria Sherman, The Associated Press
