Wolffpack

Description

DeWolff, the kaleidoscopic warriors, had not yet begun their 2019 Tascam Tapes European tour when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and they had to, like so many others, turn around and go home. They then set to work on their new album, Wolffpack. The album opens with the first track they finalized, the psychedelic and soulful funk of "Yes You Do," featuring Ian Peres and Judy Blank, a longtime friend of the band. "We wrote it during a Zoom meeting!" exclaims Pablo. "Treasure City Moonchild" arrives with a funky energy and Piso's characteristic swirling Hammond, while Levis Vis (Dawn Brothers) adds a punchy bass touch. "Do Me," with Theo Lawrence on vocals, tells the story of an anti-hero who realizes he is not worthy of the woman of his dreams. This track dates back to 2019 and the Next of Kin concert. "I consider this song the best I've ever written, so I couldn't stand the idea of it only being used for Next of Kin concerts and never used again! That's why I offered it to DeWolff, but it needed reworking," he explains. Another track from the Next of Kin sessions, "Sweet Loretta," features Stefan Wolfs (Dawn Brothers) and Diwa Meijman (Darilyn). They explore disco with "Half Your Love," swamp rock with "Bona Fide," and venture into science fiction and the Old Testament with "RU My Savior." Their tour companions, The Grand East, appear on "Roll Up the Rise." Written during the early days of lockdown, this song evokes the end of lockdown, seen from the future. "Lady J" was born after Pablo watched the documentary "13th." The album ends with the melancholic track "Hope Train," inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, which tells the story of two slaves in the United States in the 19th century, trying to escape their plantation in Georgia. "I had a lot of trouble picturing the world in which the story takes place," he confides. The band used a 1970s Fisher-Price cassette recorder for the introduction: "We wanted to see if we could get close to the sound of the earliest country blues recordings, like those of Blind Willie Johnson."