The Wonder Years have announced their seventh full-length effort, ‘The Hum Goes On Forever’, alongside the release of a soaring new single titled ‘Wyatt’s Song (Your Name)’.
The track was written by frontman Dan “Soupy” Campbell as a dedication to his first son, Wyatt, who was born in 2019 – a year after The Wonder Years released their sixth album, ‘Sister Cities’.
In a press release, Campbell said: “It’s about the polarising forces of love and anxiety that come with being a new parent – simultaneously being so overjoyed that they’re here, about the miraculous nature of their existence, but afraid of all the ways you could fail them.
“It’s about raising children in a world that feels like it’s actively ending and how to make them feel safe and cared for despite that. It tries to breathe in the small, beautiful moments and exhale all of the invasive thoughts of despair.”
Have a look at the accompanying music video for ‘Wyatt’s Song (Your Name)’ – directed by Benjamin Lieber and produced by Campbell – below, then read a statement from Campbell that elaborates further on the song’s themes:
‘The Hum Goes On Forever’ will be released on September 23 via the band’s own label, Loneliest Place On Earth, as well as Hopeless Records. ‘Wyatt’s Song (Your Name)’ is the third single to be shared from it, following ‘Oldest Daughter’ in April and ‘Summer Clothes’ last month.
Though the new record comes as The Wonder Years’ first in four years, Campbell has kept busy since ‘Sister Cities’ was released. In January 2019, he linked up with The Early November frontman Ace Enders to release ‘Clear Eyes Fanzine: Season One, Episodes 1-6’, an EP of songs written from the perspectives of Friday Night Lights characters.
That May, Campbell released ‘Routine Maintenance’ – the second album from his solo project, Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties – with the ‘Live From Asbury Park’ album following in July 2020. Last November, he released the first album under his own name, ‘Other People’s Lives’.
You can check out the cover art and tracklisting for ‘The Hum Goes On Forever’ below, and find pre-orders here. Notable in the tracklisting is ‘Cardinals II’, a follow-up to the lead single from 2015’s ‘No Closer To Heaven’.
1. ‘Doors I Painted Shut’
2. ‘Wyatt’s Song (Your Name)’
3. ‘Oldest Daughter’
4. ‘Cardinals II’
5. ‘The Paris Of Nowhere’
6. ‘Summer Clothes’
7. ‘Lost In The Lights’
8. ‘Songs About Death’
9. ‘Low Tide’
10. ‘Laura & The Beehive’
11. ‘Old Friends Like Lost Teeth’
12. ‘You’re The Reason I Don’t Want The World To End’
