Band’s “American Candy” is “kicking along with an
infectious momentum… addictive sweet and sour overtones... drenched in fuzz,”
says Various Small Flames
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“It’s the
gravitational pull of the group’s work. They’re willing to blow your hair
back.” — Austin
Town Hall
“Kicking along with an infectious momentum… addictive
sweet and sour overtones... drenched in fuzz” — Various
Small Flames
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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 23, 2023 via Minty Fresh.
Members of The High Water Marks are available for interview. Please contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more info.
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“Let’s Hang Out Forever” | About
“‘Let’s Hang Out Forever’ started out as a mellow pop tune but ended up as a guitar ripper!,” says Per Ole Bratset of The High Water Marks about the band’s latest single. “It resembles what we sound like live. The title comes from notes Hilarie and I keep of potential names for songs, and although the lyrics are a little surreal, it’s about finding what you love and doing it forever! We do what we do because it makes us happy. We need art in our lives. We see our band as one big opportunity to shake out all of our ‘sillys.’ It’s us hanging out forever!”
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The High Water Marks | “Trouble From The East”
“Trouble From The East” | About
“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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