New Audio: Slow Season’s Subtly Modern Yet Led Zeppelin 4-Inspired New Single

Westing was recorded in DIY-like fashion like their previous efforts on reel-to-reel at Tarbell’s home studio in the middle of a cornfield, the band went through a quick and immediate process — with the album being tracked between mid January and the middle of February and then mixed to 2-track tape. And although their recording process hasn’t changed much, as the band’s drummer and primary recording engineer Cody Tarbell explains in press notes the new album is “a different album. But we never wanted to find a particular sound or any one thing and be attached to it permanently. A big part of our records is experimenting.” While cementing the band’s reputation for being sonically ambitious, Westing‘s material is thematically ambitious as well, with the album lyrically following “a loose narrative about our nation’s loss of innocence as it explores its frontiers re-contextualized in a story about an unnamed protagonist faced with choosing between different ideological allegiances and his own social identity,” as the band’s frontman Daniel Rice explained in press notes with each song following “the unholy trinity of greed + power + violence, the injustice wrought from this, persisting in willful ignorance and reaping what is sown.” In some way, the album’s thematic arc seems to capture the general tone and feel of contemporary conversations about institutionalized racism, institutionalized gender inequality, inequality in general and social justice — and although it’s thematically intense, it’s still backed by layers of towering power chords that will drive you wild . . .

“Y’Wanna,” Westing‘s first single pairs a shaggy yet extremely tight IV-era Led Zeppelin meets Down on the Upside-era Soundgarden-like groove with towering and buzzing power chords, a blues-leaning solo, a complex rhythm and falsetto vocals — and although deeply indebted to a familiar and beloved classic rock formula but with a subtly modern spin without removing the bluesy oomph and kick of its source influence.

You can catch the band live throughout a rather extensive tour schedule during May and June. Check out tour dates below.