WONDERLY Release New Album “Wolves”
Photo Credit: Dana Sparling
Wonderly, the Portland, WA-based duo of Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk have released, “A World So Kind,” a melancholic winter song that represents the duality of light and darkness inherent in this time of year.
“Winter can be a tough time for people. Holiday ‘orphans’ are suddenly without their wolf pack, non-Christians are left out of much of the revelry, and some Christians dread the commodification and want to retreat high onto a mountain away from Whoville, retail battlegrounds, family pressure-cookers… However, people do go out of their way to show generosity during the holidays, and there are many compassionate elements and an overarching expectation of kindness, which is beautiful.”
- explained Jim Brunberg
Their native home of the Pacific Northwest is a vital component of the band’s identity and influenced much of their songwriting. The pair took inspiration from classic holiday carols and filtered them through their regional understanding.
“We’ve always been drawn to the darker, minor-key winter carols like baroque French noëls, Peter Warlock’s ‘Bethlehem Down,’ Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Hymn to the Virgin,’ etc. These are works that have a sense of an inner light that is shrouded in the darkness of the season. We were playing around with a descending chord progression one day, and it started to feel like one of these carols. So, we wrote about the Pacific Northwest holiday experience.”
- added Ben Landsverk
“A World So Kind” is reminiscent of seasonal classics “We Three Kings” and Handel’s “Joy to the World” with minor chord progressions and lyrics that are both merry and reflective. The track features an outro by Portland’s Low Bar Chorale, an informal large-scale community singalong created, produced, and directed by Landsverk.
“It’s kind of like a mashup of a rock show, a choir rehearsal, and a comedy show… with beer.”
- explained Landsverk.
The twice-monthly shows are popular in Portland and attract up to 2,000 attendees. Led by Jennie Baker, the rotating roster includes a who’s who of Portland’s musical community including Wonderly bandmate Brunberg, Allen Hunter (EELS, Ural Thomas), Chet Lyster (EELS), Ned Failing (The Strangers), Kyleen King (Brandi Carlile), Dan Hunt (Ages and Ages, Neko Case), Ruby Friedman (Ruby Friedman Orchestra), Christopher Brown, Dave Jorgensen (Blind Pilot), Jeff Langston (Antony and the Johnsons), AG Donnaloia (Liv Warfield, Lifesavas), Jack Mortensen (Wonderly) and many others.
WOLVES Tracklisting
1. It Was Written That Way
2. Wall of China
3. No One Has a Name
4. New Haven
5. My Damn Self
6. Starfucker
7. Never Go Back There Again
8. Plaid Pantry
9. Dancin' with the Devil
10. A World So Kind
11. Words to Say Goodbye
“A World So Kind” is off Wonderly’s latest album, Wolves. In addition to the Low Bar Chorale, Wolves features pedal steel guitarist Paul Brainard, drummer Dan Hunt (Neko Case, Ages and Ages), brass and wind players Megan Diana and Lisa Lipton. Brunberg’s own daughters, Dana and Vern Sparling, contribute horns and vocals.
The album’s title is another reference to duality. Wolves refer to the two-wolf theory in Native American mythology that describes the struggle between light and darkness within humans.
“We’re coming out of the most divisive period in history. Family gatherings and reunions are often strained. The more we look inward to see our own duality of spirit, and really examine that honestly, the more we may be able to develop empathy for other points of view, ways of life, etc. The Wolves theme, writ large, is recognition that we all contain a spectrum of compassion, anger, love, frustration, patience, rashness, hunger, generosity, horniness, loneliness and understanding.”
- said Brunberg
