Forth Wanderers – The Longer This Goes On

Theres one thing Forth Wanderers want to make clear as they prepare to release their third album The Longer This Goes On: Were not back, guitarist Ben Guterl says emphatically. Its perhaps an unexpected sentiment to pair with the bands first album since they parted ways seven years ago, but the band insists its an honest answerthey came together to record the ten intricately constructed gems that make up this new record, and theyre still figuring out what being in Forth Wanderers means to them.

Listening to these songs, each a glittering celebration of vocalist Ava Trillings urgent and intuitive lyrics and the bands natural musical chemistry, though, its hard to feel like theres much of anything left unsaid. Filled with spit-shined melodies, chiming vocal harmonies, and slinky, slanted rhythms, the album is more expansive than just a return to form.

The band isnt afraid to take the scenic route to a hook, layering instrumental flourishes to fill in the empty spaces, creating room for Trillings haunting range, or repeating a riff or a lyric until it becomes a Zen koan. On The Longer This Goes On, Forth Wanderers sound more self-aware and self-assured than ever before. Just dont call it a comeback.

The lyrics are packed with confessionals broad enough to make anyone lost in the mess of an uncertain romantic limbo feel understood, yet so precisely written that it must have clearly come from lived experience. This is exactly what made Forth Wanderers both so universally relatable and specifically felt. On The Longer This Goes On, theyve deepened that ability to pull at potent threads of romantic ennui with minimalist lyrics and lush instrumentation.

Forth Wanderers arent sure whats nexttheyre not sure if theyll continue to record new music or if theyll ever perform these songs live. These recordings, then, are ten fleeting yet invaluable impressions of the time spent as a band; rekindling of friendships between high school buddies whose dreams catapulted them into the spotlight before they were old enough to drive; songs that capture the uncertainty of the future as much as their music cements their own self-confidence in the present. On The Longer This Goes On, Forth Wanderers are making music on their own terms.

Available as Loser Edition on Milky Clear White Vinyl / CD Gatefold altpack

Tracklist:
01. To Know Me/To Love Me
02. Call You Back
03. Honey
04. 7 Months
05. Spit
06. Springboard
07. Make Me
08. Barnard
09. Bluff
10. Dont Go Looking