Best known for his ’90s post-hardcore band Shudder to Think and his recent work as the composer on Yellowjackets (with Anna Waronker), Craig Wedren has announced a deluxe edition of his 2024 solo LP The Dream Dreaming. This new collection includes the original 11-song album, five unreleased tracks, and a five-song acoustic EP with a string quintet. That latter release was recorded live at Henson Studios (now Chaplin Studios) in Los Angeles, which was recently purchased by John Mayer and McG.
Today, Wedren has also shared one of the unreleased songs from the new project, “Nothing Bad,” which arrives alongside a video directed by Wedren, Shon Hedges, and Frank Barrera. “Increasingly, we have multiple ‘at-bats’ when putting out a record—the initial release, the deluxe version, plus whatever other clever variations evolve from there,” Wedren shared in a much-needed state-of-the-union on increasingly complex release cycles. “A lot of deluxe releases are bloated and boring, of course. But some of my favorite recent albums have been weirder, redux mutations of the initial, ‘definitive’ product. I like having access to all of the bonus material that comes with an artist's output in our current age—it can make an album feel like a dynamic, living thing, rather than a frozen moment in time. I’m happy to sacrifice a little of the mystery that used to be de rigueur for artists, in exchange for insight into process, inspiration, and backstory.”
Regarding his own deluxe reissue, he continued: “When I set out to make The Dream Dreaming, I wanted to make a video for every song, collaborating with friends and directing/shooting/editing many of them myself. At a certain point, however, I just needed to put the thing out and move on, both creatively and life/work-wise, even though I’d only gotten about 3/4 of the way there with the visual side of things. With the deluxe release, I aim to finish the job and right all wrongs.”
Check out the video for “Nothing Bad” below, and pre-order The Dream Dreaming (Deluxe Edition) here ahead of its April 10 release.
