Courtesy of Graham Tolbert
From left MJ Lenderman, who is currently on a touring hiatus, Alan Miller, Karly Hartzman, Xandy Chelmis and Ethan Baechtold of 'Wednesday.'
At last, after an anticipatory run of singles, Wednesday dropped its sixth studio album, “Bleeds,” on Sept. 19. Once again, the band takes its listeners on an emotional, romantic and wistful walk down memory lane.
Wednesday, of Asheville, North Carolina, is an alternative rock band known for blending the twangy poeticism of country and the gritty, unfiltered noisiness of shoegaze into a genre fans and critics have aptly nicknamed “countrygaze.” This latest record encapsulates exactly what this blend of genres was intended to invoke in the listener, allowing one to feel a full range of emotions through sound: from the sweet feelings of adoration for your lover who tans in the sun while you freckle, to the turmoil and subsequent acceptance of losing said love.
In an interview on Hanuman Welch’s podcast, ALT CTRL, Lead singer Karly Hartzman described “Bleeds” as a spiritual successor to their previous album “Rat Saw God.” The original desired name for the album, “Carolina Girl,” was met with her bandmates’ disapproval. However, this long-running motif of a girl from North Carolina who is nostalgic for her home and the people who’ve shaped her permeates through each line.
The album begins with a bit of an edge, opening with the titular song, “Reality TV Argument Bleeds,” “Townies” and previously released single “Wound Up Here (By Holdin’ On).” The latter songs are notably personal for Hartzman. “Townies,” accompanied by a music video directed and produced by Lance Bangs on the album release day, also received a statement via Uproxx regarding its subject matter. According to Hartzman, “Townies” is “about how a young woman’s sexuality, especially when they are first encountering it at a young age, is often weaponized against them in the gossip cycles of a high school.” As always, Hartzman writes of her own experience and those of others. Having been a victim of rumors herself, she resolves the song by forgiving those who may have contributed to the high school rumor mill because she admits to contributing in small ways as well. She laments in her statement on the song that when it comes to young and dumb teenagers, “All you can do is hope everyone grew up to become decent and empathic adults.”
“Wound Up Here (By Holdin’ On),”while not as rooted in personal experience, was inspired by a friend’s story about someone found drowned in a creek. The title and chorus were taken from her friend Evan Gray’s poetry book, “Thickets Swamped in a Fence-Coated Briars.” These inspirations cement Wednesday’s ability to intertwine its music with where it comes from, never forgetting its roots.
What fans love most about Wednesday is its ability to capture a moment in time. Hartzman’s anecdotal lyrics have only gotten more specific as time goes on. She has an ability to create imagery that is so vivid that the listener begins to feel like they are right there with her, whether it be watching the weeds grow into the springs of the trampoline, or listening to that angel hum of an electric car. It is the work of a poet who is overtly present and aware of not only their surroundings but how those surroundings affect them. This is coupled with the rest of the band’s ability to flow with these words to create vivid scenes fully dimensional in a way that you not only see, but hear as well.
The album follows a few months after the news of guitarist MJ Lenderman’s announcement that he will no longer be touring with the band, following the end of his and Hartzman’s romantic relationship last year. This is likely something weighing heavy on up-to-date fans’ minds, as a majority of the songs on the album were written before their split, which include romantic lyrics and ones insinuating end times. One of the songs featured on the album, “Phish Pepsi,” is a new rendition of a song the two collaborated on in 2021. This version is a bit more lighthearted, with new instrumental parts and a cleaner finish, symbolizing not only a musical maturity but perhaps an emotional maturity between the pair as well. The release of these songs about a love that has ended, despite the pain that may linger within their subject matter, is reminiscent of the fact that a love lost is not a love wasted.
“Bleeds” is a cathartic measure in nostalgia, love, memories, both fond and unfond; healing, acceptance, family and community. All things that are ever–important in today’s world. As Hartzman and Lenderman have once said, “How Do You Let the Love Into the Heart That Isn’t Split Wide Open?” A heart split open is a heart that bleeds, and a heart that bleeds is a heart that heals.