The Wandering Off are out to capture your attention with their new single and video Hey There — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The first single from the Calgary duo’s upcoming self-titled debut, Hey There delivers an upbeat shot of jangly ’90s-inspired rock whose melodic hooks, sunny vocals and memorable melodies bear the influence of bands like Garbage and Letters To Cleo. Hey There celebrates the beauty of imperfection and the art of not worrying about the mistakes you’ve made — because after all, as Emily Corner sings, you “Can’t please ‘em all, cuz when you jump you fall.”
Emily is joined in The Wandering Off by her husband of almost 10 years, Kyle Corner. Both veterans of the music industry, they got engaged in Las Vegas while they were working on the production side of Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair revival tour.
The 12 original songs on their album (due March 31) came together at the new home studio Emily and Kyle installed during the pandemic. While holding down full-time jobs, the couple built the tracks in chunks after work, when their young children were asleep or with babysitters. “The bonus of this,” Kyle says, “is that we couldn’t get things too perfect. We hope we captured a lot of raw emotion on the record.”
Some of Emily’s lyrics take on the challenges she faced during the pandemic. After contracting COVID twice is rapid succession, she experienced chronic pain, cognitive issues and fatigue that forced her to stop working for a while. “I had burnt myself out so bad,” says Emily. “And our dog Simon died. It was such a surge of emotion that needed somewhere to go. My writing exploded and it felt like the catalyst for most of the record.”
Kyle had his own mental health struggles, brought about by concussions that forced the former member of a screamo band (don’t ask!) to put his guitar aside for a time. With Emily’s help, he was able to once again pick up his axe and find his creativity. “The first song on our record, Knick of Time, is all about that,” he says. “I went through a particularly bad period with my mental health and Em was there through it all, fixing my brain.”
With Kyle back on guitar, the pair found their sound by stripping things back to the basics, while looking to favourites such as Gin Blossoms, Metric, Third Eye Blind and Weezer for inspiration. When the songs were ready the pair enlisted the help of sound wizard and mixing engineer Warne Livesey (Matt Good, Midnight Oil, 54-40, Sinéad O’Connor, Holly McNarland). Livesey polished the record to completion, bringing in Blake Manning to lay down drums at Toronto’s Noble Street Studios.
Watch the video for Hey There above, listen to the song below, and catch up with The Wandering Off at their website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.
