In the spirit of singer/rocker legends like Chris Cornell & Eddie Vedder, 2019 brought forth the grunge-felt outfit Wilma into the Charlotte Scene. The moment they stepped out into their first set of venues, along with take-off’s True Lilith & The Walbournes, you couldn’t pass a couple of weeks without seeing their band name under one of the Queen City’s venue line-ups, striking true with the passion overtaking Charlotte musicians in the past year. It’s with that sharpening of their collective skills & enthusiasm that we finally have a drop from their budding song list, one you could say was keep secret under the highest of surveillance; “Alien” drops today, and it’s everything to love about this era and previous ones leading back to the 90’s feel.
The new single, recorded & mixed by Dead Peasant Studio, does everything right by lovers of the grunge era, carrying the guitar through a medium crawl while lighting up the track with slews of riffs. MV Leone plays double-duty, as does the rest of his bandmates, by striking the song with vocals that can’t help but take one back to Alice In Chains & Soundgarden, and yet he & the rest still make the song their own. In perfect motion, all of the instrumentals & layers are balanced as to not overwhelm the other and carry their own distinction. Adding in the two other members, Viky Leone & DJ Buchanan, carrying the background chorus & syncing with MV, “Alien” comes off as a solid first outing ahead of their upcoming 2020 album.
The track itself speaks to both a disillusion of the outside world when it comes to associating on a higher level with others, and toward an acceptance of ourselves. I liked how each set of verses began a bit with that, calling forth allusions of the transformation into their distinct selves before breaking toward the title name. The overall length does feel shorter than it is, but the design of the track pushes & extends the lyrics with ease over the sound.
Given their first outing to the studio, Wilma has quite a bit to offer us in 2020, and if their constant motion has anything to say about the group, then it’s only the beginning. If you’re looking for something to remind you that rock & grunge aren’t dead, then give these guys a listen, or better yet, come see them for yourselves out in the Charlotte Scene. You’d have to be outside the stratosphere to miss them, which also might make you a bit extra-terrestrial.
“Alien” is available now on Apple Music & iTunes, as of 1/10/2020. Check out a preview on the linked page & see what we’re talking about. ~
Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/alien/1493459361?i=1493459362
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebandwilma/
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