Today we get to share another one of our favorites from the new collection: this one is called I Learned It From You. Listen: lnk.to/EveryDayLiketheLast
This song is about unconsciously recreating dysfunctional patterns, and about the exhaustion and despair that comes from realizing that awareness alone isn’t necessarily enough to save you from repeating your past. Fun!
We recorded this ourselves, in Durham in the fall of 2020. The metallic sound in the intro is the sound of Andy pulling down the metal door of our storage unit practice space (which we would open between takes to get some fresh air from the hallway). Conveniently enough, the hallway also functioned as a perfectly serviceable reverb. Later, our friend Joseph Decosimo recorded the fiddle parts with Andy at his studio, Doom Homestead.
Thanks as always for listening, it means the most to us both :)
Delighted to have some new music to share with you--“Every Day Like the Last,” the title track from our upcoming singles collection. lnk.to/EveryDayLiketheLast
Those of you who have been paying attention may have noticed that we’ve been experimenting with releasing music differently over these past few years. This compilation brings together the singles released since 2019, plus three new unreleased songs. We are deeply proud of the music contained here--we think it’s some of the best work we’ve ever done as a band, and are so happy to see it get the release it deserves (June 23rd on @MergeRecords).
This song in particular is about the sacrifices we make for love, companionship, and community. Human beings are messy, and yet—we need each other. The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives. But for all of us, and especially for those of us whose formative relationships were not so simple—alone can feel like the safest place to be. This song is about learning how to relax into imperfection, release the impulse to control, and accept the reality that life is brief and always ending, so we might as well have some company.
Recorded and played by us, with the exception of some pedal steel from Alan Good Parker. Mixed by Adrian Olsen at Montrose Recordings. Mastered by Sarah Register.
"Half a Double Man," another previously-unheard b-side from the Civilian era, is out everywhere today! Listen here: smarturl.it/Civilian-Cut
I *think* this song is about (it was over 10 years ago, after all) coming to the realization that you can never fully satisfy all the parts of yourself simultaneously, especially when they are at odds with one another. The best you can hope for is some sort of half-reconciliation, a truce that exists in that place of: not everything, but just enough.
A reminder that in honor of Civilian turning ten this year, Civilian + Cut All The Wires: 2009-2011, a deluxe reissue including a second disc made up of songs written during the Civilian era, demos, and live sessions, will be out October 22nd.
Out today is an original demo of Holy Holy, recorded in our little attic practice space in Baltimore in late 2010. We weren’t intentionally trying to make it sound like “Cold Blooded Old Times” by Smog but we were absolutely listening to way too much “Cold Blooded Old Times” by Smog.
The Civilian + Cut All the Wires: 2009–2011 double-LP is out via Merge Records on October 22nd.
In honor of Civilian turning ten this year, we're so excited to share Civilian + Cut All The Wires: 2009-2011, a deluxe reissue including a second disc made up of songs written during the Civilian era, demos, and live sessions. The first single, "Electricity," is out everywhere today. smarturl.it/Civilian-Cut
You can read Jenn's full thoughts about these songs in her essay at wyeoakmusic.com, and on our social channels, and a few thoughts from Andy on "Electricity" and this unreleased material below:
"After playing “Electricity” in live shows for a year or so around 2009, we made a studio recording but never mixed it, and ultimately decided to shelve the song. And so, it was relegated to the dustbin of time, AKA an old hard drive which I did not unearth until 2020 when I came looking for old photos and other memorabilia from the Civilian era. On my old drive, I found a treasure trove of material which we had both forgotten ever existed—original demos, live versions of the songs, and, most exciting, a bunch of fully realized studio recordings from this era which never saw the light of day.
On “Electricity,” I was really bashing the drums in a way that I never would now, and I hear that same abandon in Jenn’s singing. The recording has much of what defined the first phase of Wye Oak: an urgent push and pull between chaos and beauty, and a hard-hitting attempt to push out as much sound as we possibly could from our duo setup. It’s not who we are anymore, but I still relate to the old feeling, and I still get goosebumps when I listen to these recordings. Everything old is new." - AS
The Civilian + Cut All the Wires: 2009–2011 double-LP is pressed on deluxe green swirl Peak Vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket that features each album’s cover when flipped. It's out via Merge Records on October 22nd.
We are so thrilled to share that we will be doing a Wye Oak concert stream on Thursday, July 1 at 8pm ET.
When our JOIN shows had to be canceled last March, Andy and I were pretty devastated. We were so proud of the incredible band we had assembled and were having the most fun we’d had playing music in years. But we decided to use our unexpected break from touring to lean into the two-piece setup in a whole new way. Without having to worry about overpowering a room of people, we allowed ourselves to create in a way that felt gentle, fragile, and more nuanced than anything we’ve ever tried to make together.
Recently we filmed the set we put together at North Star Church of the Arts, a beautiful and radical community space in our adopted home of Durham, NC. Andy’s playing drums, saxophone and electronics, and I’m alternating between guitar and one of the nicest Steinway grand pianos I’ve ever played. We’re performing our new material and selections from across our entire catalog. We think it’s a pretty beautiful collection of songs, and we’d be honored if you’d join us.
GOOD MORNING! Guess what? We haven’t forgotten about y’all. Here’s a fresh new song for you ☀️☀️☀️ smarturl.it/WyeOak-TNT
“TNT” is about the changing of the seasons, and using the passing of time as a means of reflecting on your own growth. It’s about joyfully acknowledging all of the ways in which you’ve changed while trying to accept the parts of yourself that are still stuck in patterns of repetition. And it’s about learning to see outside of the more superficial parts of your personality in order to attempt to understand the other, and reach some kind of equilibrium in spite of how different we all can be.
This year more than any other I’ve experienced the dizzying sensation that time truly is malleable; that it speeds and slows and bends and warps depending on how you exist within it. When I wrote this song in the fall of 2019 I was still very much in a state of hibernation and isolation, and I felt like I had as much time as I needed. Now I’m trying to find my footing while everything around me feels like it’s speeding and spinning out of my control. For me, this year has been such an important opportunity to notice my own patterns, and observe the way I react in different contexts. But of course, life is change, and it’s really only in relationship with others that we learn the most about ourselves. No matter how well we think we understand ourselves, we all need a mirror.
This video was conceived by our own Andy Stack, and co-directed by Andy and our hero Spencer Kelly, who also shot and edited. It was filmed in the lush and beautiful backyard of (you guessed it) Betty’s in NC just a few short weeks ago. The mirrors were handmade by Jason Blyskal of Night Owl Creations. Single artwork is by Graham Tolbert.
We’re so delighted to be able to share new music with you—stay tuned for more. xo J + A
We're proud to be raising funds to get out the vote in Georgia's Senate runoff election on January 5th via this new Going to Georgia comp, available exclusively via Bandcamp. A ton of artists from Merge Records recorded covers of artists from/songs relating to Georgia. Our selection was "Crazy" by the legendary Athens, GA band Pylon. Also check out Joyero playing drums in the Lambchop is a Band cover of a Yo La Tengo tune. The comp is available for a limited time only, and 100% of proceeds from this compilation will go to Fair Fight Action and Mijente, two organizations fighting for voting rights in Georgia and beyond. 💙 mergerecords.bandcamp.com/album/going-to-georgia
Hello friends. Our new EP, No Horizon, featuring five new songs recorded with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, is out everywhere now on Merge Records. It's unlike anything we've ever done before. We're so grateful and excited to share it with you.
Wye Oak
Today we get to share another one of our favorites from the new collection: this one is called I Learned It From You. Listen: lnk.to/EveryDayLiketheLast
This song is about unconsciously recreating dysfunctional patterns, and about the exhaustion and despair that comes from realizing that awareness alone isn’t necessarily enough to save you from repeating your past. Fun!
We recorded this ourselves, in Durham in the fall of 2020. The metallic sound in the intro is the sound of Andy pulling down the metal door of our storage unit practice space (which we would open between takes to get some fresh air from the hallway). Conveniently enough, the hallway also functioned as a perfectly serviceable reverb. Later, our friend Joseph Decosimo recorded the fiddle parts with Andy at his studio, Doom Homestead.
Thanks as always for listening, it means the most to us both :)
photo by Graham Tolbert
1 year ago | [YT] | 31
View 3 replies
Wye Oak
Hello friends,
Delighted to have some new music to share with you--“Every Day Like the Last,” the title track from our upcoming singles collection. lnk.to/EveryDayLiketheLast
Those of you who have been paying attention may have noticed that we’ve been experimenting with releasing music differently over these past few years. This compilation brings together the singles released since 2019, plus three new unreleased songs. We are deeply proud of the music contained here--we think it’s some of the best work we’ve ever done as a band, and are so happy to see it get the release it deserves (June 23rd on @MergeRecords).
This song in particular is about the sacrifices we make for love, companionship, and community. Human beings are messy, and yet—we need each other. The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives. But for all of us, and especially for those of us whose formative relationships were not so simple—alone can feel like the safest place to be. This song is about learning how to relax into imperfection, release the impulse to control, and accept the reality that life is brief and always ending, so we might as well have some company.
Recorded and played by us, with the exception of some pedal steel from Alan Good Parker. Mixed by Adrian Olsen at Montrose Recordings. Mastered by Sarah Register.
1 year ago | [YT] | 32
View 2 replies
Wye Oak
4/25 10:00 ET
1 year ago | [YT] | 32
View 0 replies
Wye Oak
"Half a Double Man," another previously-unheard b-side from the Civilian era, is out everywhere today! Listen here: smarturl.it/Civilian-Cut
I *think* this song is about (it was over 10 years ago, after all) coming to the realization that you can never fully satisfy all the parts of yourself simultaneously, especially when they are at odds with one another. The best you can hope for is some sort of half-reconciliation, a truce that exists in that place of: not everything, but just enough.
A reminder that in honor of Civilian turning ten this year, Civilian + Cut All The Wires: 2009-2011, a deluxe reissue including a second disc made up of songs written during the Civilian era, demos, and live sessions, will be out October 22nd.
3 years ago | [YT] | 17
View 2 replies
Wye Oak
Out today is an original demo of Holy Holy, recorded in our little attic practice space in Baltimore in late 2010. We weren’t intentionally trying to make it sound like “Cold Blooded Old Times” by Smog but we were absolutely listening to way too much “Cold Blooded Old Times” by Smog.
The Civilian + Cut All the Wires: 2009–2011 double-LP is out via Merge Records on October 22nd.
smarturl.it/Civilian-Cut
3 years ago | [YT] | 13
View 1 reply
Wye Oak
In honor of Civilian turning ten this year, we're so excited to share Civilian + Cut All The Wires: 2009-2011, a deluxe reissue including a second disc made up of songs written during the Civilian era, demos, and live sessions. The first single, "Electricity," is out everywhere today. smarturl.it/Civilian-Cut
You can read Jenn's full thoughts about these songs in her essay at wyeoakmusic.com, and on our social channels, and a few thoughts from Andy on "Electricity" and this unreleased material below:
"After playing “Electricity” in live shows for a year or so around 2009, we made a studio recording but never mixed it, and ultimately decided to shelve the song. And so, it was relegated to the dustbin of time, AKA an old hard drive which I did not unearth until 2020 when I came looking for old photos and other memorabilia from the Civilian era. On my old drive, I found a treasure trove of material which we had both forgotten ever existed—original demos, live versions of the songs, and, most exciting, a bunch of fully realized studio recordings from this era which never saw the light of day.
On “Electricity,” I was really bashing the drums in a way that I never would now, and I hear that same abandon in Jenn’s singing. The recording has much of what defined the first phase of Wye Oak: an urgent push and pull between chaos and beauty, and a hard-hitting attempt to push out as much sound as we possibly could from our duo setup. It’s not who we are anymore, but I still relate to the old feeling, and I still get goosebumps when I listen to these recordings. Everything old is new." - AS
The Civilian + Cut All the Wires: 2009–2011 double-LP is pressed on deluxe green swirl Peak Vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket that features each album’s cover when flipped. It's out via Merge Records on October 22nd.
3 years ago | [YT] | 19
View 0 replies
Wye Oak
We are so thrilled to share that we will be doing a Wye Oak concert stream on Thursday, July 1 at 8pm ET.
When our JOIN shows had to be canceled last March, Andy and I were pretty devastated. We were so proud of the incredible band we had assembled and were having the most fun we’d had playing music in years. But we decided to use our unexpected break from touring to lean into the two-piece setup in a whole new way. Without having to worry about overpowering a room of people, we allowed ourselves to create in a way that felt gentle, fragile, and more nuanced than anything we’ve ever tried to make together.
Recently we filmed the set we put together at North Star Church of the Arts, a beautiful and radical community space in our adopted home of Durham, NC. Andy’s playing drums, saxophone and electronics, and I’m alternating between guitar and one of the nicest Steinway grand pianos I’ve ever played. We’re performing our new material and selections from across our entire catalog. We think it’s a pretty beautiful collection of songs, and we’d be honored if you’d join us.
Get tickets and more info at sessionslive.com/wyeoak/tickets
3 years ago | [YT] | 20
View 0 replies
Wye Oak
GOOD MORNING! Guess what? We haven’t forgotten about y’all. Here’s a fresh new song for you ☀️☀️☀️ smarturl.it/WyeOak-TNT
“TNT” is about the changing of the seasons, and using the passing of time as a means of reflecting on your own growth. It’s about joyfully acknowledging all of the ways in which you’ve changed while trying to accept the parts of yourself that are still stuck in patterns of repetition. And it’s about learning to see outside of the more superficial parts of your personality in order to attempt to understand the other, and reach some kind of equilibrium in spite of how different we all can be.
This year more than any other I’ve experienced the dizzying sensation that time truly is malleable; that it speeds and slows and bends and warps depending on how you exist within it. When I wrote this song in the fall of 2019 I was still very much in a state of hibernation and isolation, and I felt like I had as much time as I needed. Now I’m trying to find my footing while everything around me feels like it’s speeding and spinning out of my control. For me, this year has been such an important opportunity to notice my own patterns, and observe the way I react in different contexts. But of course, life is change, and it’s really only in relationship with others that we learn the most about ourselves. No matter how well we think we understand ourselves, we all need a mirror.
This video was conceived by our own Andy Stack, and co-directed by Andy and our hero Spencer Kelly, who also shot and edited. It was filmed in the lush and beautiful backyard of (you guessed it) Betty’s in NC just a few short weeks ago. The mirrors were handmade by Jason Blyskal of Night Owl Creations. Single artwork is by Graham Tolbert.
We’re so delighted to be able to share new music with you—stay tuned for more. xo J + A
3 years ago | [YT] | 10
View 1 reply
Wye Oak
We're proud to be raising funds to get out the vote in Georgia's Senate runoff election on January 5th via this new Going to Georgia comp, available exclusively via Bandcamp. A ton of artists from Merge Records recorded covers of artists from/songs relating to Georgia. Our selection was "Crazy" by the legendary Athens, GA band Pylon. Also check out Joyero playing drums in the Lambchop is a Band cover of a Yo La Tengo tune. The comp is available for a limited time only, and 100% of proceeds from this compilation will go to Fair Fight Action and Mijente, two organizations fighting for voting rights in Georgia and beyond. 💙 mergerecords.bandcamp.com/album/going-to-georgia
4 years ago | [YT] | 17
View 1 reply
Wye Oak
Hello friends. Our new EP, No Horizon, featuring five new songs recorded with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, is out everywhere now on Merge Records. It's unlike anything we've ever done before. We're so grateful and excited to share it with you.
Listen: smarturl.it/NoHorizon
4 years ago | [YT] | 15
View 3 replies
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