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The High Water Marks (L-R): Per Ole
Bratset, Hilarie Sidney, Øystein Megård, Logan Miller.
Photo credit: Photograph by Amanda Burford. Illustration by Per Ole Bratset.
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The High Water Marks | “An Imposed Exile”
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The High Water Marks | About
“It was insanely fun!,” says Hilarie Sidney of The High
Water Marks about making Your Next Wolf, the band’s upcoming
17-track album, scheduled for release on June
9 via Chicago-based imprint Minty
Fresh.
Your Next Wolf is the third “comeback” record in as many years by Sidney and her band mates in The High Water Marks, following the end
of a 13-year absence.
The songs on Your Next Wolf contain all the
memorable pop melodies, intricate, blazing guitar solos and riffs, washes of
psychedelia and percussive punch (plus Sidney’s
unmistakable voice) that have been trademarks of her long music career. Here, they are an even more to-the-point,
sophisticated, and amped up experience.
Based in both Grøa, Norway and Lexington, KY, the
current incarnation of The High Water
Marks — which includes Sidney, Per Ole Bratset, Øystein Megård, and Logan
Miller — had never performed live in the same room.
That was until October of 2022 when, “We played our first show with all
four of us together in Oslo opening for Pavement,”
Sidney says.
Most artists would consider this a big break, but Sidney goes way back with Stephen Malkmus and the boys, having
toured together before as part of her previous band The Apples In Stereo.
The Apples
In Stereo is one of the three cornerstone
groups (along with Neutral Milk Hotel
and Olivia Tremor Control) that
comprised the Elephant 6 Recording Co.,
the revered recording collective and record company that was the recent subject
of a festival circuit feature documentary and an exhaustively researched book,
both released in 2022.
Sidney was the sole female co-founder of Elephant 6 and The Apples, but in a music world where women continue to fight for
recognition from gatekeeping men, this fact remains one that must continue to be
talked about.
“It’s not often mentioned how much influence women had
over the Elephant 6 movement at the
time,” explains Bratset. “Hilarie is the founding member cranking
out the most new music right now.”
And Your Next Wolf is pretty exciting!
This time, the band was able to record in the same
room at Miller’s studio in Kentucky.
“After making two albums remotely, we proved that we
could come together in person and make music that way too,” Sidney says.
Acclaimed engineer, Justin Pizzoferrato (The
Pixes, Lou Barlow, Dinosaur Jr) had become a fan of The High Water Marks and offered to mix
Your
Next Wolf, resulting in the most in-your-face sounding crunch that The High Water Marks has ever produced.
Your Next Wolf does not let up!
Once again, the record is accompanied by hand-drawn
art by Bratset, whose images have
become synonymous with The High Water
Marks and something that fans immediately recognize.
“We are really happy with this record and we feel like
it has the cohesive band sound and flow we were going for,” Sidney concludes.
Your Next Wolf by The High Water Marks
arrives June 9, 2023 via Minty Fresh.
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The High Water Marks | “Trouble From The East”
“This song is basically about chilling the fuck out,” says Hilarie Sidney about “Trouble From The East,” the first single from Your Next Wolf, the third album in less than three years by her Norway-based band The High Water Marks. Your Next Wolf is scheduled for release via the Chicago-based label Minty Fresh on June 9, 2023.
Sidney continues, “We aren’t a political band, but politics affects us all. 2022 was an insane year over here in Europe with the Ukraine war. In Norway, we border Russia (our trouble from the north and east) and especially in the beginning, there were a few times we thought there was a nuclear threat.
“People are angry and scared. We just want to see everyone calm down and enjoy what we have. Our little blip of time in this world should be marked with what we did to spread joy, what we did to help, and what we did to try to make a difference in ourselves and the people around us.
“It’s been crazy. Right after the war started, there was an attack on a nuclear facility in Ukraine. Then Russia started talking about using nuclear weapons. Norway’s national guard inspected every single bomb shelter in the country to see if they were up to code and repair/replace anything needed. It was really scary!”
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