Wolfmother Release Fuzzy New Track, ‘Gypsy Caravan’
Australian retro-rockers Wolfmother are poised to release their fourth studio effort, Victorious, on Feb. 19. Already teasing fans with the title track and "City Lights," the group is mounting the anticipation, premiering "Gypsy Caravan" courtesy of Live Nation and Vice. The track is a fuzzy, riff-oriented jam that harkens back to the most cherished moments of the 70's filtered through Wolfmother's modern lens.
Leader Andrew Stockdale — who played guitar, bass and sang on the record — takes the lead with an earworm of a riff before his Ozzy Osbourne-inspired voice — though decidedly more stable and comfortable in the higher register — playfully interjects, careful not to overtake the guitar lick. The vocals on "Gypsy Caravan" get more of a spotlight during the chorus with the start and stop rhythms allowing space for Stockdale's singing to truly shine, bringing to mind greats like Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant as well.
Commenting on the album, Stockdale said, “Back in the early days, I’d play guitar, bass, and drums and then present the ideas to the band and we’d work on the arrangement together." He went on to add, “I thought it would be cool to get back to demoing ideas by myself and playing everything. It’s a good way to do things because it can make the style more cohesive.” Discussing the album's overall sound, Stockdale stated, “We wanted to get back to that big sound. The album is a balance of garage-y energy and big production. It’s wild, energetic and perfect for a festival main stage.”
Typically, Wolfmother write and record at a relatively slow pace, releasing an album every four or five years, but the follow-up to New Crown only saw a two year gap pass by. Speaking about the mindset going into the album, Stockdale told us in an exclusive interview, "Um this one, yeah I think on New Crown just the year before this one, it was sort of like a return to roots in some ways and this one was sort of like an extension of doing that." Continuing this sentiment, he added, "You know, going back in some ways to a similar thing to what I did on the first record where like I’d play a riff just be in a room, you know, and just put down ideas and just kind of put everything together like that. Like I’d construct the song, have the hook at the start, have the riff, then get the beat happening. So that was what I had in mind for this one."
In support of Victorious, Wolfmother will be hitting the road in North America in late February, starting in Minneapolis, Minn. and drawing to a close on April 1 in Vancouver, British Columbia. For a full list of dates, visit our 2016 Guide to Rock + Metal Tours.
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