The Wldlfe gave themselves room to rethink on Revolver, out now via Riser House Records.
Stepping back from the writing-and-touring cycle let the band revisit arrangements and practise restraint across a record that moves between ’80s rock, pop, alternative, and indie.
With Carson and Chris Koo co-producing most of the album, that process brought together different production instincts, while songs including Ruby and California Can went through multiple revisions.
Ahead of their Long Way Home headline tour, starting October 17 in Orlando, The Wldlfe discuss finding the right balance, reshaping Heart and taking the new material onstage in our FM PRO Quickfire 5.
Working with your friends always makes the process better.
Q1. You gave yourselves more time to make Revolver. What changed once you were able to revisit songs without the usual writing and touring cycle pressing in?
It just gave us more time to refine things. We had the opportunity to sit with things a bit longer and make sure that everything was what we wanted it to be. Songs like Ruby or California Can went through a ton of different changes to get right and If we didn’t have that time to revisit them, I don’t know that we would be as excited about how they turned out.
Q2. The album moves between ’80s rock, pop, alternative and indie. What helped you decide when a song needed a bigger sound and when to hold back?
We have a tendency to want to go big a lot of the time. For this album in particular, we really wanted to be intentional about practicing more restraint. A lot of these songs felt pretty clear in terms of what they needed to be. Other songs took a bit more time of adding or taking away parts to see what felt right.
Q3. Of the singles released so far, which track took the most unforeseen path from its first idea to the finished recording?
Heart was a completely different song at first. Jansen had the melody pretty much from the start, but the lyrics were completely different. When we started playing around with it in the context of the album, it became something else entirely.
Q4. FM PRO TECH: Did your recording or production workflow change on Revolver, and can listeners hear that choice in the final record?
We worked with some new producers on this record. Primarily our good friend Chris Koo. Carson and Chris co-produced most of the songs on this album which was an awesome experience for us. Working with your friends always makes the process better, but from a technical standpoint too, Chris and Carson both have different strengths and tendencies as producers which worked together in a really amazing way on this album.
Q5. With the Long Way Home tour starting soon after the album arrives, which new song are you most curious to play live, and why?
It’s honestly super hard to pick, but for sure Ruby. That one has felt really special since the beginning.
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