Will Wood is an impressive singer/ songwriter/ multi instrumentalist/ multi media artist who has something extremely special. Now I’m new to Will’s world and I’m thoroughly impressed with what I’ve heard. It was way back in 2015 when Will Wood & The Tapeworms emerged with Everything Is a Lot, the following year saw the unveiling of sophomore album Self-Ish. Four years after the superb sophomore, Will Wood & The Tapeworms are back with another studio album. Released via Say 10 Records, The Normal Album comprises of 10 tracks and features prior singles Love, Me Normally and Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!). This full length was Produced by Jonathan Maisto (Dillinger Escape Plan, Foxy Shazam) and it also features the work of from multi-platinum producer Matt Squire (Panic! At The Disco, Ariana Grande, One Direction). Finally The Normal Album was crowdfunded at $27K. …well, better than the alternative is the third and final single to be lifted from the upcoming record and I cannot help but lavish plenty of praise onto it. Now this succulent song is a literal pop masterpiece, that melody was incredibly upbeat whilst the heavy lyrical content painted a picture of a man who’s struggling mentally “Baby, could you play along with me? Baby, would that be alright with you? And when we find out what’s wrong with me could you tell me how I’m right for you?”. Still I found this upbeat gem to be both quirky and infectious. Wood’s vibrant vocals were bright and breezy which then resulted in an immersive 4 minutes. Aside from that 26th June saw the unveiling of the official music video and this being a colourful explosion. Wood created the music video with long time collaborator Chris Dunne and artist Sorin Michaels using EBsynth (a cutting edge digital animation program that applies handmade paintings onto live footage, thereby turning that footage into a moving painting. Here is what Will had to say “Sorin Michaels, a top member of my Patreon, began posting fascinating animated edits of an early music video of mine in the Patreon discord server, and I was immediately hooked and asked for his help in creating a music video using his unique set of skills with this brand new technology… The work was meticulous, but it paid off in full, by creating a music video unlike any other, using brand new technology in a wholly unique way”. The Normal Album is available from iTunes (USA/ UK) or HERE Official Site I love "...Well, Better than the Alternative" so much, so I'm not part of any group that dislikes it. Just getting that out of the way. As someone who got into Will Wood from Self-ish, though, and whose main draw to it was the chaotic but harmonic nature of the music and the layering and callbacks in songs like "The Song With Five Names" and "Hand Me My Shovel, I'm Going In", I can see how it might not be everyone's favorite. It has some really strong layering, yes, but it definitely follows more of that playful pop song imitation kind of feel, and it just might not have the vibe they were looking for? I like Will Wood because he sort of reminds me of a more modern Radiohead and I adore the choice to mimic the sorts of things that are/were popular in music. Obviously The Normal Album makes several allusions to a sort of 1950s post-WWII era with the idea of a sort of ideal suburban neighborhood tinged with a fear of nuclear war. A fallout sort of vibe, if you will. Will Wood has the most brilliant way of creating atmosphere and putting so much character and attention to detail into all his work. It emulates old, recognizable scenarios in order to tackle new and present problems. But I also recognize that some people don't listen to whole albums, and it's alright to cherry-pick songs that you like from certain artists. You're allowed to only like one or two songs from a person or skip a song in an album because the style doesn't suit your mood. I just love the song for it's story-telling and brilliant execution. “…well, better than the alternative.” is the latest single from Will Wood’s upcoming album, The Normal Album, due out on July 10 via Say-10 Records. The track is nothing short of a glistening avant-pop gem, juxtaposing an upbeat, charming melody with heavy lyrical matter. The song builds and builds to a sweeping climax at the three-minute mark where Wood’s vocal performance takes on an anguished energy as he sings, “Baby, could you play along with me? Baby, would that be alright with you? And when we find out what’s wrong with me could you tell me how I’m right for you?” Speaking to the song’s inspiration, Will states, “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t have a daughter—I don’t always write from my own perspective. Besides, I think the last thing I want is to put someone through the deeply traumatizing experience of being forced to live an entire life without their consent. It almost always messes them up mentally.” The corresponding video was created using EBSynth—a cutting-edge digital animation tool that makes paintings come to life. Created by tech start-up Secret Weapons, the program applies handmade paintings onto live footage, thereby turning that footage into a “motion painting” with fascinating results. Of the process, Will shares, “Sorin Michaels, a top member of my Patreon, began posting fascinating animated edits of an early music video of mine in the Patreon discord server, and I was immediately hooked. The visuals were just stunning, so I asked for his help in creating a music video using his unique set of skills with this brand new technology. “Co-creator of my concert film, The Real Will Wood, Chris Dunne and I began brainstorming and shooting videos in our still-unfurnished house and sending them over to Sorin, who began the process of painting ‘keyframes.’ Each clip would use just one keyframe to show off the unique functionality of the program and to create a wide variety of styles within the video. “Between shoots, Sorin would send over screenshots of the video for me to trace and create painted versions of, so we could both create individual keyframes and create further variety in the styles present in the video. “All of the keyframes were hand-painted, and I then bridged the gap between the ‘motion paintings’ and the live action footage that helped show an abstract narrative in the video using stop-motion and water color cell animation. Once Sorin had finished the process of rendering these motion paintings, he sent them to me, and I took on the role of editor. The work was meticulous, but it paid off in full by creating a music video unlike any other using brand-new technology in a wholly unique way.” |
Well, better than the alternative meaning
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