The 10th anniversary of Wye Oak’s band-redefining Shriek is officially next month, but it’s never too early to celebrate—Shriek: Variations, Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack’s collaborative reimagining of Shriek with Grammy-winning composer William Brittelle, is out now. Listen to Shriek: Variations wherever you stream music, and order a copy on limited-edition natural & orange swirl Peak Vinyl from the Merge store.
Wye Oak’s introduction to Brittelle around the time of Shriek’s recording placed them at the intersection of classical, experimental, and pop music, fundamentally changing the way Wye Oak approached making records as they incorporated an entirely new palette of sound into their work.
The shift that began nearly a decade ago comes full circle on Shriek: Variations. It may feel like a startling take on the material, something like light bursting into a room through drawn curtains, but Brittelle’s arrangements suggest that his maximalist arrangements have lived comfortably within the framework of Shriek the whole time, waiting for the right moment to emerge.
It’s a fitting reintroduction to the album, drawing attention back to the songwriting—how, regardless of the instrumentation, Wasner and Stack’s uncanny music-writing partnership is at the core of what makes both Shriek and Wye Oak excellent. If Shriek is a record that charts the depths of solemnity and inner space, its Variations, roiling in a sea of winds, brass, and strings, recolors that space and complicates it, a gorgeous, unexpected response to the original’s siren call.
Wye Oak on tour:
Jul 24–27 Carrboro, NC – Merge 35
