The Wandering Hearts – New Album ‘Mother’ Out Now

British trio The Wandering Hearts release their new album ‘Mother’ today. Produced by Steve Milbourne, their Chrysalis Records debut is a handcrafted patchwork of folk-style storytelling, pop hooks and rock energy threaded together by their luminous signature harmonies. You could think of it as a long-lost seventies album originally made in Laurel Canyon and dusted off in some vintage London record store 50 years later. The Wandering Hearts, who recently completed an extensive tour of North American venues and major radio stations, head out this month to play shows and make instore appearances across UK and Ireland. ‘Mother’ will be released digitally, on CD and LP with signed coloured vinyl, limited test pressings and other formats available exclusively via the band’s website. To coincide with the album release, The Wandering Hearts have today unveiled new track ‘Hold Your Tongue’:

Motherhood changes everything. Little moments assume a much greater significance, and every memory holds the potential to last forever. Responsibilities expand, yet joy does as well. The Wandering Hearts intimately explore this maternal transformation on their aptly titled third full-length offering ‘Mother’. The band, Tara Wilcox [vocals], A.J. Dean [vocals, acoustic guitar] and Francesca ‘Chess’ Whiffin [vocals, mandolin], chronicle this season of growth and change across eleven tracks.

“I was pregnant when we started making the record, and Tara was pregnant when we finished it,” notes Chess. “During the process, we really found ourselves as a band. Motherhood has helped us grow and find meaning. It brought our writing and performing to a different level.”

The group worked out of Chess’s home studio in Darlington, drawing on everything from folk to rock. Surrounded by guitars, a vintage piano and classic equipment, the music gestated in a room affectionately dubbed, “The Music Womb.” A.J. goes on, “This album started as a folk EP and grew into something entirely different.  It has elements of folk, rock, blues, pop and more with our voices tying it all together. We were really just making an album for us. We think the result is the best music we’ve ever made.”

Earlier releases had brandished a bit of a subtle pop sheen. With ’Mother’, The Wandering Hearts peeled back this layer, sanded it down and stripped the sound to its bare essentials—captivating lyrics, organic instrumentation, and, as always, starkly powerful harmonies. In doing so, they realised their vision at its purest and most powerful. On ‘About America’, bright acoustic guitar and tambourine offset the heavy weight of an intense story given life by breathy harmonies. Echoes of a soft vocal line ripple over a steady beat on ‘Still Waters’, piano bookending the vulnerable refrain, “My body’s made up, but my mind is a mess, so hard to focus when I feel like this.”

Crystalline harmonies transmit a tender message uplifted even higher by organ on ‘Letter To Myself’. As electric guitar wails, ‘Hold Your Tongue’ pierces passive-aggressive “compliments” with sharp lyrics and angular vocal melodies. Album highlight ‘Not Misunderstood,’ broods and builds, warning of a looming emotional storm. ‘What Fools Believe’ concludes on a breezy chant laced with whistling and lithe strumming. “It’s an anthem to everyone to keep on going—even if life is hard,” A.J. notes. In the end, motherhood has ultimately enabled The Wandering Hearts to be themselves. “The album has all of the elements of who we are, but we’ve landed in a place that feels like us,” reflects Chess.

1. About America                                                           7. Dance Again

2. Still Waters                                                                 8. Not Misunderstood

3. Tired                                                                           9. River To Cry

4. Letter To Myself                                                         10. Will You Love Me

5. Hold Your Tongue                                                      11. What Fools Believe

6. Waiting

Fri 22^nd                          Kingston Upon Thames               Banquet Records (6.00pm)

Sat 23^rd                          London                                        Rough Trade East (7pm)

Mon 25^th                        Leeds                                           The Vinyl Whistle (7.00pm)

Tues 26^th                       Edinburgh                                     The Queen’s Hall

Weds 27^th                      Belfast                                          The Deer’s Head

Thurs 28^th                      Dublin                                           The Workman’s Cellar

Sun 31^st                         Birmingham                                  O2 Institute 3

Tues 2^nd                        Manchester                                   Gorilla

Weds 3^rd                       Leeds                                            Brudenell Social Club

Thurs 4^th                       Nottingham                                    Rescue Rooms

Fri 5^th                            Sheffield                                         Leadmill

Sun 7^th                          Bristol                                            The Fleece

Mon 8^th                         Brighton                                         Komedia

Thurs 11^th                      Norwich                                         Arts Centre

Sat 13^th                         Cardiff                                           Tramshed

Fri 31st                          Oxford                                           O2 Academy

Sat 1st                           London                                          Lafayette

Ticket link here: https://tix.to/TWHPR