DeWolff will release their brand-new album
Love, Death & In Between on
3 February via
Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group. They’ve also revealed the video to the new song
“Heart Stopping Kinda Show,” which you can watch
here. The band will kick off a 13-date European tour supporting The Black Crowes today
. They have also announced that they will play a special show at 100 Club, London on Thursday 2 March. Tickets are available here –
www.dewolff.nuYou can pre-order the album HERE.
DeWolff are not a band to sit still. They thrive on constant motion. From psychedelic southern rock warriors to emissaries of soul. They’ve released five albums in the last four years, with 2021s Wolffpack becoming their highest charting record, reaching #2 in their native Netherlands, only missing out to Foo Fighters for the #1 spot.
Love, Death & In Between is a reaction to their previous two studio albums. Tascam Tapes, which was recorded on the road with a four-track cassette recorder from the 1980s and the socially distanced recording of Wolffpack. “For this, we wanted to do something with people, as many people as possible,” singer/guitarist Pablo van de Poel says.
The lightning strike moment for Love, Death & In Between came via Memphis. “In 2019, I attended a sermon by Al Green at his own church, and it was a life-changing experience, musically,” Pablo remembers. “I was in there for one minute, and I was crying. He would be talking about someone who can’t pay their bills and would say, ‘I call up to the almighty saviour to help her.’ It was met with the sound of ‘Yeaaah! Yeaaah’s!’ The band would play two chords, which was beautiful. I was intensely touched by it. It left a profound impact on me. I wanted to do something like that at a live show, but we didn’t have any songs that fit. When we started writing, I wanted to do something like that, an almost religious experience. Because, after all, music does feel like a religion to us. It’s something that’s in our minds all the time. It’s what we dedicate our whole lives to.”
In May 2022, they went to Kerwax, an analogue studio in the village of Loguivy-Plougras in Brittany. “We thought, let’s go on an adventure,” he says. Located in North-western France and surrounded by forests, they retreated to the residential studio for two weeks, engulfed in vintage recording equipment from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Recording live to tape, with no overdubs, brothers Pablo (guitar/vocals) and Luka van de Poel (drums/vocals) alongside Robin Piso (Hammond/Wurlitzer) were joined by a host of friends for the recordings. “We brought extra people and wanted their signature on it. Playing with ten people in one room is chaotic. Every take you do, somebody is not satisfied with how they play. But you realise what is important about a take.”
Everything was recorded fully analogue and directly to tape, no computers were used in the making of the album. The tapes were then sent to a mastering engineer who cut it straight to a lacquer that was used for the vinyl pressing – even this mastering and cutting was done fully analogue.
The themes on the album were partly inspired by novels from 20th-century American authors, particularly John Steinbeck’s ‘Tortilla Flat. “There is a quote from him, ‘The good story lay in half-told things which must be filled in out of the hearer’s own experience,’ and that was something I really wanted to do with lyrics on this record.”
At the same time, the band were deep diving into old soul and R&B records – Sam Cooke, The Impressions, The Coasters, The Clovers, Ray Charles and Little Richard, as well as a heavy dose of gospel – The Soul Stirrers, Al Green and early records by The Staple Singers.
“Counterfeit Love,” wears its heart on its sleeve, whereas the 16-minute “Rosita” shows their progression. “How I want to write now, is more reflected in songs like this,” he says. “I wanted those lyrics to feel like a story, but also a journey within itself.” “The Queen of Space and Time” follows the same character, “I wrote that in a dream,” he laughs. “It’s the same person. A god-like female figure that controls all kinds of crazy dark stuff. Also, with Rosita, the only way to be with her is to be asleep or dead, so it’s a combination of love and death. That’s where the album name comes from.”
“Heart Stopping Kinda Show” is “how I see life,” he says. “Life is the heart-stopping kinda show. I was writing with ‘Tortilla Flat’ in mind. These characters are not constantly overthinking things; they live, drink wine, and have these beautiful moments. They are doing the ultimate living. In the song, I wanted to describe the things in life that are beautiful.” “Will o’ the Wisp” has a seductive darkness, whilst “Night Train,” “Message for my Baby”, and “Wontcha Wontcha” are joyous roof-raisers.
Out of the rural surroundings of Brittany, DeWolff left with twelve songs, over four tapes, with friends, having fun and remembering what is most important to them. On a diet of Al Green, Sam Cooke, and John Steinbeck, they’ve created some of their most soulful but rousing music. When they sing, “Hey there baby won’t you come on in, I got plenty of old records that we can play, some rhythm & blues, some old rock ‘n roll, yes, the type of stuff that can save a soul”, you better get ready for that heart-stopping kinda show.
