Wednesday - Bleeds

If the timing of ‘Bleeds’ feels somewhat fortuitous to the outside world (a band called Wednesday releasing a record in the shadow of the brightly-lit spotlight cast by the Netflix series of the same name), then it was seemingly the reverse for its creation. With frontwoman Karly Hartzman’s decidedly diaristic writing style, that we’re told that most of this sixth album from the North Carolina outfit was written before her split with guitarist MJ Lenderman – then a full member, now at least not a touring one – matters little, as an eerie glumness pervades most of the record that’s difficult to avoid tying to the protagonists’ real-life timeline. Similarly, the tension created by a shuffle between styles leaves a visible seam each time: a case in point is the wonky, pretty country-lite of ‘Phish Pepsi’ (featuring the memorable pop culture quip “We watched a Phish concert and Human Centipede / Two things I now wish I’d never seen”), which leads to the indie whisper of ‘Candy Breath’, where an almost comic timing precedes the line “everyone’s divorced”. It’s not a complete push-pull in contrast, and both tracks themselves singularly work, but there’s a perceptible vibe shift that has the record on edge - one which (with the gift of hindsight, at least) suggests a band similarly on edge. 

This slight maladroit as Wednesday’s styles jostle for attention doesn’t affect the record – and in fact, the ‘what we know now’ adds to the emotional heft Karly has already displayed a knack for conveying. For example, the ennui and classic slacker rock storytelling of ‘Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)’ is palpable; elsewhere, on ‘Pick Up That Knife’, her refrain of “they’ll meet you outside” becomes increasingly pained as the track progresses. It’s better yet when this emotion is echoed by the music itself: the ominous organ of ‘Carolina Murder Suicide’ reflects her soft, sad delivery; and ‘Wasp’ - the one point where the record could be described as truly noisy - sees vaguely muted guitars combine to cacophonous (and glorious) emotive ends.