Wallows admits to having gained experience and reveals that the new album has several declarations of love

O Wallows picked up the pace and released his third studio album, modelthis Friday, the 24th. As with the other albums, the title of this one refers to the verse of one of the tracks — “She’s an Actress” —, in which Dylan Minnette takes over the vocals.

Although the trio didn’t assign a specific theme to their latest project, love seems to be in the air. While “Canada” was written by Minnette for his girlfriend, the direction of the music video for “Your Apartment” was done by Nina Ljetipartner of Cole Preston. She also wrote and directed a promotional tour video that references several cinema classics while revisiting the trajectory of the Wallows.

“It’s very comforting, especially for me, because I don’t have the acting skills that these guys have. When she’s directing me, it’s more comfortable,” he commented. Preston in an interview with Rolling Stone Brazil. Minnette took on the role of the first blonde to die in Scream 6 (2023), for example. Already Braeden Lemasters made a point in The lie (2010), starring Emma Stone.

The three members of the group quoted “Going Under”, performed by Lemasters, as one of your favorite tracks. The musician revealed that New Order It is phoenix are some of the inspirations behind the new album. In the case of the band led by Bernard Sumnerits influence directly reflects on “Only Ecstasy”.

Lemasters added: “Most of the time, making music is about having a basic inspiration… Like in ‘You’ [(Show Me Where My Days Went)]for example, half of this song only happened because of ideas that were improvised, and that’s what makes the songs unique.”

Minnette, Preston It is Lemasters They started the musical group when they were still teenagers, around 2011, and even released compositions under other names. When they released their first studio album, Wallowsin 2019, Preston argued that they had “all the time in the world”. Since then, the band has been going faster and faster: three years were enough to bring Tell Me That’s Over (2022) and only two to create model. “We were forced to make songs faster, and I feel like a lot has happened to us as a band,” he said. Paste.

With new albums come new tours. In 2023, the Wallows made his debut in Brazil. They were included in the line-up of Lollapalooza and stated that they want to return to the arms of the country’s audience as quickly as possible. “We can’t wait to return to Brazil. We hope to return next year”, he said Minnette.

Read the full interview:

Rolling Stone Brasil: Your first album came out in 2019, the second came in 2022, and here we are: you’re about to release another one. Do you think you are evolving faster in some way?
Cole Preston: That’s a good question. I would say that on our first album, which came out in 2019, Nothing Happens, we had all the time in the world to make those songs. I think it was a slower evolution, because it was a collection of songs that we had been living with for a long time. Since then, we’ve been forced to make music faster, and I feel like a lot has happened to us as a band. After we went on tour and made another album — you kind of become more experienced — I think we honed in on who we are and how we work. So, I would say yes, we have evolved very quickly.

Rolling Stone Brasil: I believe most of the lyrics on this album talk about relationships. “Your Apartment” is about meeting an ex, “Only Ecstasy” has romantic verses, I think… Please correct me if I’m wrong. Would you say this album has a theme by which its songs are connected? How would you describe model?
Dylan Minnette: You know, I don’t think the album necessarily has a theme or a connection between all the songs. All the lyrics came together very naturally, at different times. “Your Apartment”, I wrote the lyrics to that when I was in another period of my life. When I wrote most of the lyrics, I was showing love. I feel like I didn’t want to think about themes for this album, I wanted the words to find their way naturally.

We finished most of the songs in the studio while we were recording. They seemed very fresh and honest. We kind of work better under pressure. I can think of what the best word for forever would be, but if I have to sing this song in an hour, then I can think really quickly — that’s the best way to commit to something.

But in the end, it ended up being about relationships, because that was in my head. I was happy, and it helped us achieve what we wanted for this album. We wanted model it was a very easy album to listen to, and I think the content of the lyrics helped us achieve that and fine-tune the tracklist in a way that the project made sense as a whole.

Rolling Stone Brasil: There’s a guitar in “Calling After Me” that reminds me of some of Peter Hook’s baido lines. Can you tell me more about the references behind the album? I read that they are fans of Arcade Fire, Beatles and some other bands…
Braeden Lemasters: It’s really funny that you asked that, because New Order really inspired a lot of this album, actually. Like, “Only Ecstasy” is totally inspired by New Order in terms of basic ideas. “Calling After Me”… That’s interesting. Maybe something like that really happens Peter Hook in it, which is cool. But, yes… Citing other influences for the album, there are Beatlesfor sure…

Dylan Minnette: phoenix!

Braeden Lemasters: Yes, phoenix! I’m trying to think…

It’s also a weird thing when you have no direction, inspiration or influence for the things you’re writing. Like, when you’re in the studio, just in this world, it’s funny—I think I’m realizing this now—it’s like you’re inspired by yourself and nothing else. It’s just you improvising, you know? You don’t know what you’re going to get, which is amazing. Most of the time, making music is about having a basic inspiration… As in “You” [(Show Me Where My Days Went)]for example, half of this song only happened because of ideas that were improvised, and that’s what makes the songs unique.

Rolling Stone Brasil: Can you tell me more about “Canada”? Why did they decide to call it that?
Dylan Minnette: The story behind this song starts when we recorded the demo for it. We were referencing a phrase that we needed to record for radio, like the old days. It was a station in Canada. We make fun of Braeden by the way he pronounced “Canada”. So, that’s not included in the lyrics of this track, but we named the demo “Canada.”

It stuck in our minds, and we couldn’t name the song any other way. For some reason, that title encapsulates how this song sounds to us. The lyrics are for my girlfriend, who interestingly is from Canada. So, it works perfectly. There’s also a line — this is the first time I’ve said it out loud — that I sing: “Take me back to where you’re from, all the way back to the day one.” Technically, this is a reference to Canada.

Rolling Stone Brazil:Where does the album title come from?
Cole Preston: In the song “She’s an Actress”, the lyrics repeat: “She’s a model / She’s an actress / she’s a dancer”. When we’re deciding on the title, it’s always something that’s in the lyrics — “nothing happens” is in the lyrics, “tell me that it’s over” is in the lyrics — and “model” was something that the Dylan he brought.

I think this time we prefer to stay away from a very long title. We wanted it to be a single memorable word. And “Model” made sense. One of them also noticed that there are no projects — maybe there are random things we don’t realize about — but if you search for “Model” on Spotify albums, you don’t find anything. It’s the kind of title you imagine has already been used. Once we decided that, we were able to assign different meanings to ourselves and in a way that speaks to the content of the record.

Rolling Stone Brasil: What are your favorite songs from the new album?
Cole Preston: In no order: “Going Under”, “She’s an Actress” and “Calling After Me”, honestly.

Braeden Lemasters: My favorites are: “Anytime, Always”, “Only Ecstasy” and “Going Under” too.

Dylan Minnette: “She’s an Actress”, “I Wouldn’t Mind” and “Going Under”. Those are my three favorites — but “You (Show Me Where My Days Went)” is a close second.

Rolling Stone Brasil: What was it like working with Nina on the tour’s promotional video and the music video for “Your Apartment”? Where did those references come from? I’m pretty sure there’s even a scene inspired by Twin Peaks…
Cole Preston: Nina, my beloved girlfriend, is a director, and we were discussing ideas for the promotional video. Live Nation wanted us to do something… The main reference is The illuminated. The character of Braeden it was literally supposed to look like the Jack Nicholson in The illuminated. We wanted the first part of the video to make the viewer believe that it was going to be one of those boring videos. And then we begin to be haunted by the past, the present and the future of Wallows. They are all our friends, Nina driving… Lots of fun. It’s great to work with her because not only is she my girlfriend and we’ve all been friends for so long, she makes us feel comfortable and always makes sure everything is in order before we start filming. It’s very comforting, especially for me, because I don’t have the acting skills that these guys have. When she’s directing me, it’s more comfortable.

Rolling Stone Brasil: What was it like performing in Brazil? I saw Dylan at the Tame Impala show, by the way… Are you coming to Brazil next year?
Dylan Minnette: It was amazing! It was our first time there, the audience was much bigger than we imagined, super responsive and excited. We can’t wait to return to Brazil. We hope to return next year.

Braeden Lemasters: I loved it! It was a great show.