Wye Oak Offer Up First 'Real' Record, Remember Broadcast's Trish Keenan

Despite having released two previous albums on Merge Records and being lauded as one of Baltimore's most talented acts along side fellow duo Beach House, Wye Oak still consider their new record, 'Civilian,' their official debut.

"I will stand by all of the recordings we've made on some level, but I think there's a sense, for both of us, almost like this is our first real record," drummer and keyboardist Andy Stack tells Spinner.

"This whole career fell into our laps at an incredibly early age, with really the first set of recordings we ever made being released on Merge, so I guess we've been growing into the musicians that we are," lead vocalist Jenn Wasner adds. "This is finally a really good example of what we're capable of and the kind of band we are. As a set song cycle it's probably the best one I've ever written and so I feel really happy with it and excited to share it."

While the mood around the release is jovial, the record itself has a much more somber tone, Wasner reports, revealing that the lyrics are centered around the theme of loneliness.

"One of the most important things I've tried to learn how to do in the past year is to be at peace with being alone and finding whatever I need to get by in myself and not always trying to find that in others," she says.

Watch Wye Oak Perform 'Civilian' Live
While touring Europe last month, the band received news about the sudden passing of Broadcast singer Trish Keenan, who died of pneumonia at the age of 42.

"We listen to a lot of Broadcast, they're an incredible band," Wasner says. "Pretty much everything you absorb becomes a part of your output at some point. It was never necessarily conscious, but I was a big fan and it was terribly sad to hear."

"We try to tread in this area of instability between beautiful and dissonant," Stack adds. "I think lyrically Jenn writes a lot of stuff that is sort of ambiguous in that same way. Broadcast's music definitely represented that for me of something that can inhabit multiple emotional spaces all at one time."

After the release of the new album, Wye Oak intend on touring for the remainder of the year. They've learned to stay focused on one thing at a time regarding creative projects.

"This album is where our mind is right now," Stack says. "We feel like we've made something we're really proud of. When you're doing creative stuff it's always hard to know what the next thing will be or what will pull you in. For us, it's really important to follow what we're feeling passionate about at a time, and right now, we're really excited about the band."