Wednesday is a quintet from Asheville, North Carolina that makes a hybrid of gravelly country and serrated shoegaze laced with sincere lyricism. Today, they've announced a new album Rat Saw God—their first since signing to Dead Oceans last year—with the single "Chosen to Deserve" and a video directed by Spencer Kelly.
"Chosen to Deserve" is a genuine (dare I say) love song. It's giving a bit of Martina McBride and Bruce Springsteen, offering up the messiest, sometimes darkest, parts of a person's past to build a true foundation for a current relationship. "We always started by tellin' all our best stories first," Karly Hartzman sings in the opening verse. "So now that it’s been awhile / I’ll get around to tellin' you all my worst / Just so you know what you signed up for, what you’re dealin' with / Just so you know what you’ve been chosen to deserve." There are moments of binge-drinking, hospital visits for Benadryl abuse, and a revelation that this relationship is a life raft from looming loneliness.
"'Chosen to Deserve' is a writing exercise I gave myself to try to recreate the iconic song by Drive-By Truckers 'Let There Be Rock' but with my own experiences from growing up and fucking around and getting into stupid shit,” vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Hartzman said. “The video directed by Spencer Kelly shows the setting of my upbringing and antics: my parents' neighborhood in Greensboro, North Carolina and Lake Myers RV Resort."
Check out the video below. Rat Saw God arrives April 7 via Dead Oceans.
