Well Being

It is difficult to give the music of Toronto-based band Well Being one designation. They’re described as indie-rock, post-punk, psychedelic pop … and the hyphen variations continue. Because of the way the band inhabits the in-between, their name can take on multiple meanings. Well Being could — as the dictionary states — mean health, happiness, and prosperity. For example, the sage repetition of the lyrics “Hold on, be strong” in “Hands Tied” or the whole title of “Don’t Complicate It” as advice for well-being. But for the darker, grinding moments of the album, it is just as easy to read the name as “Well, Being”, sighed in a punkish offhand way. Well Being’s eponymous debut hops around in tone, but retains a honed high-energy foundation.

The album develops like nightfall. The opening track “Fear Love and Everything in Between” has all the potential energy of a sunset, while album closer “Girls of Kilimanjaro” is a dance-to-stay-warm middle of the night exaltation. The three-piece rockers are adept at creating mountains of sound, such as on “I Walk Through Clouds”, and move between clear production and warehouse-rock ambiance. Occasionally bordering on the energy you might look for on a punk album (see: “Waterboarding”), then meandering to a catchy vocal riff that could be found on a pop record (“Jean Seberg”), the band are at their best when they are between.

When the trio lacks divergence, the music borders on familiar. “Habitual” is catchy, though it doesn’t hold up to the more fresh tracks on the record, such as “Fear Love and Everything In Between” or “Hands Tied”, both album highlights. On Well Being, the energy is always there, and it is this energy that keeps the album refreshing. The production meanders on a spectrum, between spacious fuzziness and crisp, clean riffs. Were it not for the unifying energy, the songs that inhabit one end of the spectrum could feel out of place.

Well Being make music that is itching to be heard live, but until they tour, playing this album at full volume throughout the evening will just have to do.

Top Tracks: “Fear Love and Everything In Between”, “Hands Tied”

Rating: Strong Hoot (Good) - Grayowl Point

In review of the music video for Well Being's single "Fear Love and Everything in Between":

The animation on this video is just crazy good. It appears to be hand painted, and if it's not some sort of digital trickery, that is an astounding amount of work.

On the musical side, this is an extremely well crafted rock tune — and there can never be enough of those in the world. - CBC

Following this year’s earlier released Chambers EP, Toronto psych-pop trio Well Being released their debut self-titled album and have now shared visuals for lead single, Fear Love and Everything in Between.

"Soon you’ll see
Fear love and everything in between
Turn to tears,
I’ve learned to fear
Love and everything in between"

Animated by Karly McCloskey, the catchy rock tune is joined by a mesmerizing shape shifting video featuring oil painting, rotoscoping, and green screen techniques. Each frame captures the song’s exploration of the various stages of a relationship that we experience; some stages more so than others. From desire and lust to a passionate hunger, and ultimately the fear of love as insecurities and past predicaments take hold of our feeble minds and hearts, resulting in the end of a promising future with your lover.

Watch the wild video below and spin Well Being’s self-titled debut project here. - Ohestee

Toronto psych-pop trio Well Being just delivered their debut self-titled album after touring behind their Chambers EP earlier this year. Now, heady album cut "Fear Love and Everything in Between" has been treated to an animated music video, which Exclaim! has your first look at below.

Animated by Karly McCloskey, the video's art style is shaped by oil painting, rotoscoping and green screen techniques to hallucinatory effect. The video first features a painted nude figure shapeshifting into an ice cream cone, flowers and skulls, while a second is shown struggling to keep his head above water.

As the band reveal in a statement, there's much more to McCloskey's smooth visuals than meets the eye.

"The video explores love in its various forms and manifestations," the band explained. "Desire, passion, hunger and fear flow into and out of each other to paint a portrait of human behaviour and relationships."

Well Being's self-titled LP is available through the band now via Bandcamp. Watch the video for "Fear Love and Everything in Between" in the player below. - Exclaim!