“I really didn't want to overthink it this time. I wanted to pick my battles and really trust the process.” – Dylan Minnette
Growth turns out to play a key role in Wallows' upcoming third album, Model. Aiming to produce their “most concise, cohesive, all-killer, no-filler” record to date, the trio returned to work with John Congleton, with whom they had worked on their debut, and As a result, they succeeded in regaining some of their innocence. First work. “It became really instinctive,” Dylan nods. “We started with guitar, bass and drums and really tried not to layer anything unnecessary on there. And I think that really brought back some of the sincere and enthusiastic nature.” We have a special connection as producers, so it was great to be in the studio with him,” Cole said. “He's the first producer we sought out and worked with, so there's another level of trust and comfort to be working with him again.”
“I remember one of the words we used the most during the recording process was 'let go,'” Dylan says of the band's collective mission. Following the longer, overly analytical process that went into making 'Tell Me That It's Over,' a record that jumps around musically and dips into synth pop and new wave along the way, this time they've found their own. I wanted to trust the musicality. Intestines. “We really didn't want to overthink it this time,” says the frontman. “I wanted to pick my battles and really trust the process.”
This confident spirit seems to permeate everything from the record's sound to its mononymous title and enigmatic artwork. A name that is both “strong and memorable” and open to interpretation, one that the band has managed to reflect in the aesthetic that accompanies the album. “When we decided on the title 'Model', the main thing we knew from the beginning was that we definitely didn't want to have models, mannequins, etc. on the cover,” Braden explains. . Instead, the band teamed up with Aidan Zamiri to create an image of “a space that may be a little off, as the sunset in the background is not actually a sunset, but a wall of pillars.”
“I think there's something cool about this kind of built space,” Cole added. “This is a huge part of the world we live in today, where everything is a representation of something, and it becomes increasingly difficult to sort out what is real. I think this applies to almost every aspect of life in a way: “Is this person real?” Am I real? Is this the right thing to do? It's kind of a reflection of what we're all going through at this age, thinking about what version of the band we want to be. What is expected of us? Are the expectations true? It's all a question and we're not trying to answer it, but we're doing the best we can. ”
“We love things that are right but not right,” Dylan nods. I think that's how we felt at times when recording this, like we needed to please the label and the people around us and the fans. With so much material and material available, it's easy to question yourself. You need to present yourself perfectly to everyone. And in the end, we ended up being the best version of ourselves. ”
Model will be released by Atlantic on May 24th.