The foundation of live music performance is often the fleeting chance to experience it in one form, never to be duplicated. The composition of Wume’s new single, “Control,” is an electronically shape-shifting, experimental progression of curious tones and uniquely natural-sounding beats, acting as an operational a-frame for structural change, and off of which new influence can build. “This is the opening song off of our album, Maintain,” the band explains. “We are constantly trying to experiment with our writing process and our setup. Usually, our songwriting is slow and grueling, but ‘Control’ came together very organically, and we just went with it. When playing it live, we keep the song structure loose, try to make changes when they feel right; as a result, we never play it the same way twice.”
The synths grow increasingly lush and complex as the track progresses, layering highs and lows over each other, fading and phasing them in and out, and finally incorporating vocal hushes, which act both percussively and melodically. The pleasantly simplistic construction of the song only creates an environment for change, captured on a recording in this form, but readily available for a performance in another—art’s dying wish might be freshness, and this very much allows for it.
“Control” is streaming below. Maintain is out in May on Ehse Records. Wume are touring this spring with Dan Deacon, who we recently profiled with a Cover Story.
Wume tour dates:
May:
22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw ^
23 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall ^
24 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery $
June:
01 – Lyon, France @ Le Sucre *
02 – Milan, Italy @ Magnolia *
03 – Salzburg, Austria @ Rockhouse *
04 – Leipzig, Germany @ Goldhorn *
08 – Prague, Czech Republic @ Meet Factory *
09 – Vienna, Austria @ Wuk *
10 – Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Kino Siska *
14 – Brussels, Belgium @ VK *
15 – Brighton, UK @ The Haunt *
16 – London, UK @ Oval Space *
17 – Manchester, UK @ Islington Mill *
18 – Glasgow, UK @ Centre For Contemporary Arts *
* = w/ Dan Deacon
^ = w/ Dan Deacon, Prince Rama, Ben O’Brien
$ = w/ Chiffon, Oh Hang
