The Canadian band talk to us about their new single, what we can expect from their upcoming album and the influences that have shaped their music.
The duo composed of Alexander Ortiz and Vincent Levesqueknown as We Are Wolveshas returned in 2024 with new music after a five-year break that came about organically. Ahead of the release of his new album, we had the chance to chat with Ortizwho told us about the creation process and how current issues inspired this album.
“Vincent He had a son and I think he was very busy with the whole situation of being a new father. I, for my part, continued making a lot of music, more than ever, because I started three other bands, punk bands, post-punk bands and I even released my solo project. I also started a record label. So, there was a lot of music for me, for Vincent “It was being with his son. And all of that happened naturally and it was never thought of as, ‘We have to take a break. ’ And from 2019 until now, in the last year that we took to record the album, it was like a mental break from being on the scene, playing, being on tour, and all that.”
…But music has always been present.”
The new album, titled Nothingwill have 12 songs and will be available on digital platforms starting in November 2024. The vocalist mentions that this word encapsulates the central idea of the album.
“It’s in Spanish. I think it represents the idea of this album well, that we have the impression that everything has passed, that there is nothing left, and since there is nothing left, we can start all over again, do it differently. It’s something pessimistic and negative, but at the same time optimistic. That we can now see reality in a different way, to rebuild things differently, to be stronger.”
Alexander He said that three or four singles will emerge from this new album. The first preview, “Transition”was released on May 30 and describes it as a post punk song with influences from Gang of Four, Joy Division and The Cure.
“The next single that we are going to release soon is in Spanish and it is called ‘Supernormal’, which is something very different, but for me it represents a bit the same as the song ‘Transition’. It is also about the transition of how one sees reality. There are many things that are very absurd, that are happening in reality, such as war and the climate problem, and one way to be disconnected from that is to see that reality in a super normal way.”
It is absurd to see how such bad things that are happening seem to become normal and banal.”
The video for the first single features a dancer with a yellow filter, and the musician explains why.
“The idea of dance, especially ballet, has always fascinated me. I see it as a source of optimism and hope, but also with a tragic undertone. The yellow filter is a reference to the happy face, an image that will appear frequently on the new album.
“I wanted to combine the image of the dancer, which has something very beautiful, a kind of idealization, with the yellow filter. This combination represents a dichotomy: something magnificent but tragic, possible but difficult, good and bad at the same time. This mixture reflects the ideology of transition, of constantly being between one state and another, and understanding what happens in that process.”
Create Nothing It took almost a year between planning and recording, which took place in Montreal, New York and Guadalajara. This allowed them to experiment with new sounds, beyond those they were already accustomed to.
“We started almost a year ago in a very quiet way. Vincent and I wanted to record without pressure, doing everything on our own at my house and his. Then we decided to work with other people, so we contacted our friend from Guadalajara, Odin Paradawho was instrumental in the recording process and invited us to his studio, Rec4 StudioFrom there, we started creating songs with a more pop and danceable approach, but still keeping a punk touch. Some songs became something similar to cumbia, but with a post punk and punk style.
Afterwards, we returned to Montreal to continue recording. I called my friend Oliver Ackermannfrom the band A Place to Bury Strangers and Death by Audioand we went to record with him in New York. We spent about a week there before coming back and finishing more songs here, taking our time, albeit with more pressure.
As for the lyrics, I’m the one who writes almost everything that is sung. Musically, I sometimes start with a guitar riff here at home, using a drum machine. Then I meet Vincent and he contributes ideas to give it more impact drum machine or suggests adding synthesizers.
This is how we build the song in a calm manner. Sometimes when we put our ideas together, they flow naturally and with just one note we can start a completely new song. I have had the vision of creating cumbia-influenced songs for years, and we were finally able to do it with the help of our friend Odinwho supported us to do it the way we wanted.”
The time elapsed between his last EP, The hand of Godand the creation of this new album served to inspire the Canadian duo, influenced by all the events that have occurred since 2020. This allowed them not only to develop a proposal with dance and post-punk sounds, but also to provide their lyrics with a meaningful message.
“Yes, I think this whole album is deeply influenced by the realities of what has happened in the last five years. There is an excess of information and media that makes people feel disconnected from reality. I have noticed this in my children as well, who are older now, and they don’t seem to understand everything that is happening because of the information overload. It is a very difficult thing to deal with, and it reflects in my music.
Even if a song is about love, the lyrics refer to the current political, economic and environmental context. All of these realities have an impact on our daily lives. One can be in love, but also live through all of these difficulties, which makes it difficult to understand what is happening and feel more disconnected and dissociated from it all.”
But despite being inspired by reality, the trends of the music scene don’t seem to affect them. The Montreal-based group always remains true to their way of making music.
I think we are a band that has never followed the trends of the moment.”
“That’s probably why we’re so poor, because we’ve never done something just because it’s trendy. For example, if hip hop is trendy, we’re not going to make a hip hop song just because of that. If tomorrow it’s electronic music, we’re not going to change to that, and the same with any other genre.
We have always had our own way of seeing and making music, and we do it our way, without following imposed rules. We do it because we feel it, because it is authentic and passionate. We have observed that, in today’s music, everything seems to be a fashionable phenomenon.
One week something is popular and the next week it’s something else, and everyone follows it almost blindly. For us, that doesn’t make sense. We prefer to do it our way.”
In addition to the new album, the group is preparing to embark on a tour that will begin in September. They hope to add more dates, especially in Latin America.
“For me, it’s like going back to Mexico, Colombia and South America, including Chile and Ecuador. Going back to South America is really where I want to be. Playing here in Canada and the States is cool, but I don’t know why I like going south so much. We’re sure we’ll go to Mexico, although I don’t know exactly when. We’re talking about all that and I hope it’ll be soon, maybe before the end of this year. Then we can celebrate the release of the new album.”
