Given that their last proper album explored the concept of a multiverse, Slothrust owed it to themselves to ease up on the heady lyrical content as they shift into their next chapter. While we still anticipate what that chapter might look like when it arrives, today they’re releasing a four-song EP titled Wildcard that lives up to its name in being a grab-bag of loose ideas that felt perfect for unwinding at the end of a particularly arduous summer. “Our goal in writing these songs was to have fun and make each other laugh,” band leader Leah Wellbaum tells us of the EP, which was recorded with super-producer (and bandmate Will Gorin’s childhood friend) Willy Beaman. “We all love R&B as well as rock music and wanted to create a body of work that highlighted qualities we love in those genres, all the while keeping it absurd and technical.”
The collection ranges from the quixotic energy of the previously released title track to the closing cover of electropop duo Missio, and includes the forbidden-fruit pop-punk anthem “Midnight Slay.” Opening with verses accented by sins-not-tragedies-esque strings, the track erupts with its confessional chorus. “I try to always write lyrics from a poetic vantage point, while considering singability and what feels interesting from a sonic perspective,” Wellbaum shares. “‘Automatic,’ ‘post-erotic,’ and ‘robotic’ all end with ‘tic,’ which mirrors a clock going ‘tick, tick, tick.’ And this song is about an escalating chaos that ensues at midnight.”
The visual for the track echoes the silliness the EP strives for, with Wellbaum and Gorin syncing TikTok-era dances, eating cereal out of comically large bowls, and performing other antics. Check that out below, and stream the full EP here.
