Wallows are riding high on confidence and creativity with their third album ‘Model’, a lean, mean indie-pop machine that showcases their growth as a band.
Words: Abigail Firth.
Photos: Derek Bremner.
Grooming: Chloe Rose.
It’s a few days before they’re set to release their third album ‘Model’, and Wallows are holed up in a little Islington studio with Dork. Our shoot and chat are squeezed in between two album outstores on a trip so whistle-stop that we actually end up bringing the boys coffee on our way up to meet them before they head off to New York the next day (to their amusement at 4:20pm).
It’s hard to tell whether it’s the jet lag or some cliché laidback California attitude, but Wallows are pretty relaxed about the many moving parts spinning around them; if anything, it’s that go-go-go lifestyle that’s influenced the sound and ethos of ‘Model’ more than anything else.
‘Model’ crash lands into the start of summer with a decidedly more immediate sound, feel and approach. The boys came into its creation with the goal of making some leaner, meaner songs and achieve exactly that. There’s none of the fumbling self-discovery of debut ‘Nothing Happens’, nor any of the detours or much of the instrumental experimentation follow-up ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’ brought forth.
