Psych-rock wizard Vanderwolf crafts yet another mesmeric and immersive soundscape in “Sweep Away The Shards.” It is a compelling glimpse into the artist’s upcoming album, ‘The Great Bewilderment.’ The music unravels with warm synth spreads, tendrils of guitar melodies, and powerful vocal deliveries. It seamlessly grows from being a mild breeze to a majestic gush of tunes, taking you on an unforgettable sonic journey. Combining the power of rich instrumentation and imaginative writing, Vanderwolf leaves us utterly captivated and eagerly awaiting the upcoming album. Lost In The Manor interviews Vanderwolf about the themes, musical influences, and creative processes involved in making “Sweep Away The Shards” and the upcoming album ‘The Great Bewilderment.’
Please introduce us to “Sweep Away the Shards” and the musical influences at play here.
Sweep Away the Shards was written just prior to the pandemic in the Brooklyn loft I lived in between my London years and my current LA residency. Like most of my songs, it emerges out of experimenting with chords- and in this case, this song is a cycle of major 7th chords. This song does not have a chorus or a bridge - it's simply that cycle of chords until it peaks in the final verse.
So in terms of structure - this song really stands apart from most of my other music which tends to shape-shift and take some unexpected turns. In some ways, the song relates to White Rabbit, written by Grace Slick in 1965 and later a staple and anthem for the Jefferson Airplane - and which I regard as one of the single greatest recordings. But the feel of Sweep Away the Shards is more relaxed. It's breathing. The backward guitars and swells of the bass guitar lend a very warm and disorienting effect. The build-up implied a story - but what? I only sensed something quite beautiful but with dramatic consequences. The words followed the music. Sonically I'm drawing on some mid-'70s Eno, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa. This is my only guitar solo on this record and it is probably underpinned by my love of Brian May, Zappa, and Gilmour.
The single explores a deeply profound and poignant theme—the tendency of the human psyche to drift away from the clutches of reality. What inspired you to delve into this in your song?
The song tells the story of someone living in an enlightened state, their feet barely touching the ground. These whimsical angels can enchant us. We've all known someone who was tenuously connected to day-to-day practicalities. Such an ethereal person can be inspirational, but it can also be very frightening - or even tragic - when we witness them go so adrift. ''Sweep Away the Shards'' tries to reflect that trajectory - that disintegrating beauty. It's the story of a beautiful friend who became increasingly untethered to the world we both knew - and my inability to hold on to her.
Tell us about your creative process. Was there any aspect of songwriting that was particularly challenging?
Most of my songwriting comes out of my obsessions with harmony and chord progressions and I'm constantly exploring musical possibilities that will hit me unpredictably. I know when I stumble upon one. In this case, it was the richness of stacking those major 7th chords. But the great challenge is to find the words and themes that support the melody. I've had moments of easy inspiration where lines have just flowed from some unknown source out of my mouth and onto the page. But typically I am hammering away with many revisions and it can be a struggle. I can remember that those first six lines were so immediate. They're exactly the same on the demo... I didn't know what I was writing about at the time... But those were the only words that I was gifted - I knew I was on the right track.
The album art is an eye-catcher with elements like broken mirrors and the expression of bewilderment on a woman’s face. Tell us more about the artwork and how it connects to the overall themes.
The album cover design was something I really obsessed over... I'm not even sure how the idea came to me but for the longest time, I wanted this image or something like it.... There were some variations. I like album covers that imply a story or raise questions. And there are many questions here.
The viewer is walking in on a scene - in this case, a tumultuous scene. There are elements of tragedy, and bewilderment but also defiance and resilience. Dennis Martin (who also produced the record) and I worked on this for what seemed like ages - it had to tell a story but leave enough to the viewer to complete the picture and tell their own story.
The music video for the new single is incredibly imaginative and immersive. Tell us a bit about it.
There are a lot of AI videos out there and some of them are great. But there's a lot of cliches emerging and very little emphasis on story-telling. I was aware of the psychedelic qualities of “Sweep Away the Shards” but I didn't want to play into them. Pretty early on I knew we should try to combat the cliches by presenting the song's imagery in black and white - referencing Hollywood films of the 1940s. George Panagokas who created the piece was able to conjure the emotional quality of these female characters. We knew we needed to imply a very deep inner life of these characters to match the content of the song.
How does “Sweep Away the Shards” fit into the bigger picture of your upcoming album “The Great Bewilderment”?
Well, I'm never the best judge of my own music so I tend to respond to how my musicians respond. It became apparent in the studio that “Sweep Away the Shards” was a few of the musicians' favorite songs of the bunch. I hadn't even thought of it as a single. It sits nicely as track 3 giving some breathing space between ''The 6.09'' and ''Gaza,'' which are both epic, with unexpected twists and turns. “Sweep Away the Shards” is almost a ballad in its simplicity. The crescendo is quite intense but for a while, it provides a space to breathe and hear the band quite intimately. The interplay between Angie's drums and Chris' bass is really something to behold... The long fade was really an extraordinary moment in the studio.
What themes and tonalities can the listener expect in the upcoming album?
It's quite far-reaching. The Great Bewilderment is self-referential but it also characterises the times we live in. A sense that we have lost control and that our problems are complex and incomprehensible. The challenges of climate change, AI, government corruption, and spiraling militarism and nationalism seem insurmountable. The album reflects a kind of sense of mystified loss across a spectrum of scenarios... the personal and the political. The tonalities are as varied as the experiences that inspired me to write. So, musically, we draw on a wide range of influences and I've intentionally drawn on five of the most versatile musicians I know to synthesize these influences.
What are your plans for the future and what do you look forward to?
I'm going to keep making music - in fact I've got another record underway. I hope to play this record live, but with vast challenges to the music business and the cost of touring, we'll need to see if this future comes to fruition. We really hope this record will advance things for us in terms of getting this music on the road. Meanwhile, climate change is hitting hard here in southern California so I've had to unpack my wellies from my years in the UK and hope to be on drier land soon. Carbon neutrality is a future I look forward to as well.
Vanderwolf releases his new album 'The Great Bewilderment' on 13th March.
Discovered via https://app.musosoup.com #sustainablecurator