Lee Wilder’s debut album Sound Emporium (due out via Blind Owl Records on Feb 9th) is true to its title, channeling not only myriad music genres, but also influences from film, literature, and just life itself. Its ten songs of impassioned, gospel-flecked Americana are infused with danceable, sometimes bombastic grunge and pop sensibilities.
Recording to tape at San Diego’s Audio Design Recording, Wilder and an array of accomplished players crafted an achingly authentic, entirely analog record embroidered with boldly imaginative arrangements. Often co-writing with his producers and players, Wilder shunned genre templates to freely indulge a rich, eclectic palette of influences.
Many of Sound Emporium’s lyrics were in-the-moment cascades captured first or second take, an approach that further energizes the record’s wild-eyed romp through styles and subject matter. Recurring themes include love, loss, and tales heard along the way. “When people tell me their story, I just absorb it,” Wilder explained. “And when I step up to a microphone or sit down with my guitar, everything just comes out.”
Ultimately, Wilder sees Sound Emporium as a visceral, broadly relatable grab bar in listeners’ rollercoaster lives; a sonic and lyrical experience that embraces letting go of toxic and trivial thoughts in favor of truly conscious, participatory existence.
Today Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the video for “Fever,” a standout track that was recorded while Wilder was experiencing a manic episode. Singing with a dark baritone in an almost spoken word style, Wilder conveys a sense of coolness that is enhanced by the grungy guitar and snappy background vocals to make for a song that is a catchy rocker. Flitting between brooding calm and saturated chaos, the song’s multiple personalities are all portrayed by Wilder in the accompanying Rory Morison-directed video. The director says, “the three personages—cowboy, diva, and clown—represent extreme personalities of masculinity, femininity, and the other. Lee Wilder, our protagonist, transforms into these characters as a way to embody and express the varied emotional states associated with the disease.”
Wilder describes the inspiration behind the tune:
“It’s like three characters all wrapped up in the same story; the many faces of mania one might go through at some point in their life when they’re searching for a glimpse of hope.“
WATCH:
2 Responses
Incredible song and video. Gives me chills and feels. Playing on repeat.
More please Lee Wilder
Incredible, unique work from an unknown artist. I have had this song in my head since first listen.