Louisville Trio Wombo Announce EP
The lead single was released with a music video that was directed, edited & filmed by all the band members, Sydney Chadwick, Cameron Lowe & Joel Taylor.
By: Michael Major May. 08, 2023
Last year, Louisville Kentucky based trio, Wombo released their beloved album, Fairy Rust that received praise from the FADER calling the record "a trove of dreams and secrets," Paste complimenting "the thumping bass line and Chadwick's gauzy vocals," and more.
Today, the band announce their four track EP, Slab, featuring Womb's signature sharpened guitar work, distorted freakouts and downtempo musings, out June 16 via Fire Talk Records. Along with the EP announce, Wombo shares their lead single and title track paired with a trippy, dreamscape music video that was directed, edited & filmed by all the band members, Sydney Chadwick, Cameron Lowe & Joel Taylor. Watch here.
Cameron Lowe says: "The lyrics were drawn up as soon as we wrote the song, while staring at the concrete walls in Joel's basement. The video imagines what would happen if we literally removed the basement wall and instead opened it to a stream of random scenes and ideas like a pharmacy, a replica of Sydney's house and front porch, the imaginary bedroom, and a journal entry of Sydney's about a dream she had."
Following recent support slots for The Breeders, Dehd and Deeper in the US, Wombo will be touring the UK and Europe for the first time ever this May. Kicking off at London's MOTH Club on Friday 12 May, the band will also play sets at The Great Escape and Dot to Dot Festival, as well as headline shows across Manchester, Paris, Leeds, Glasgow and more.
Recorded by Nick Roeder in the band's hometown of Louisville, Wombo's new EP 'Slab' is a loose, instinctual grouping of songs that gradually morph into sonic territory that's at once familiar to those already indoctrinated with the band's experimental doses of surrealist escapism; as well as sweeter, stripped-down shapes.
Most of the guitar parts from the EP are scratch takes that fit both the dueling energies and intentional imperfections of the songs, with overlaid vocals recorded on the same day. The result is an of-the-moment snapshot of a band that's both settling naturally into a sound all their own while still remaining in constant evolution.
The trio of Sydney Chadwick, Cameron Lowe and Joel Taylor sound more comfortable than ever, guiding the listener through a cohesive framework of peculiar hymns in a language only they can translate.
Lead single "Slab" was inspired by a book Chadwick read about disassociation, and came from improvising lyrics in the band's basement practice space. The song perfects the Wombo formula of simple, unexpected lyrical metaphors wound up in complex instrumentation, tracing unusually catchy melodies that get stuck in your head.
Originally made to be a solo piece on piano, "Thread" is filled with unassuming layers that transform the song's outward simplicity into something both transient and spellbinding. Chadwick's low-key delivery makes her melancholic sentiments ("who was singing about loneliness?") universally grounding.
WOMBO UK TOUR
05.12 - London, UK @ Moth Club
05.13 - Brighton UK @ The Great Escape
05.14 - Manchester, UK @ YES (Mood Swings)
05.16 - Newcastle, UK @ Bobik's
05.17 - Leeds, UK @ Hyde Park Book Club
05.18 - Birmingham, UK @ Dead Wax
05.20 - Bucharest, RO @ Control Club
05.22 - Paris, FR @ Supersonic
05.23 - Luxembourg, LU @ Rotondes
05.25 - Oxford, UK @ The Jericho Tavern
05.26 - Newport, UK @ Le Pub
05.27 - Bristol, UK @ Dot to Dot Festival
05.28 - Nottingham, UK @ Dot to Dot Festival
05.30 - Glasgow, UK @ The Hug & Pint
05.31 - Edinburgh, UK @ Hidden Door Festival
Photo by Fallon Frierson
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