Wild Cub

Youth is a collection of captured moments...
like moving photographs: late night drives, the limitless feeling of falling in love, the freedom of finding a true friend and co-conspirator in an immense world, the cool ocean meeting your toes on a hot summer’s day. A simmering mix of bass, synths, drums, and frontman Keegan DeWitt’s low and soft, yet urgent vocals, lead track “Shapeless” sets the evocative and cinematic tone that permeates the album. The taut dreaminess of “Straight No Turns” and “Hidden In The Night” evolve into sensuous, dancefloor-ready electro-pop, while “Jonti” – with its soaring, cathartic chorus “I see it now, it’s brighter when the lights are out” – and “Wild Light” – all quirky, staccato organ and lyrical guitar-led charm – are playful art pop sing-alongs. The rich, melancholic soundscape of “Drive” highlights Youth’s moody romantic atmosphere. Produced in collaboration with musician (Tallest Trees) and photographer Dabney Morris, and mixed with Ephraim Nagler (You Are Plural, The Velvet Teen), the album combines live takes and programmed sounds, and was recorded digitally before the files were run through a TASCAM 4-track tape recorder, often used for intimate home demos.

Wild Cub is centered on film composer (Cold Weather, Dance Party USA) and singer/songwriter (2009’s LP Islands, 2010’s Nothing Shows EP and Two Hearts/Reluctance 7”) DeWitt, and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Bullock (Pico vs. Island Trees, Jessie Baylin, Madi Diaz). They toured most of 2011 under DeWitt’s name, who'd gotten good press attention from AOL Music's Spinner, FilterMagazine.com, My Old Kentucky Blog, Paste ('Best New Solo Artists of 2010'), Popmatters, and Vogue.com, among others: hitting SXSW, New York Fashion Week (for designer Billy Reid), and the CMJ Music Marathon; and touring with Jeremy Messersmith and on the 4th Daytrotter Barnstormer tour alongside artists including Sondre Lerche and Guards, among other shows. Wild Cub was officially born upon returning home last fall, and Youth was written and recorded over two months in Bullock’s house, which was turned into a multi-room studio.

After already catching the eye and ear of their hometown press (Nashville Cream has praised Wild Cub’s “intricate melodic pop”: “…don’t ask how, but the Chris Martin-meets-‘Bastards of Young’ melody on the first of three new songs hit that elusive sweet spot of melody plus sing-along that every pop-based band should aim for”), the band is now beginning to catch attention from national press including American Songwriter, Paste, and RCRD LBL (“Straight No Turns” song premiere), and also performed at Bonnaroo in June.