CRAIG WEDREN (Shudder to Think) Announces Latest Project
Craig Wedren announces the latest installment in his Sabbath Sessions series of live improvised vocal looping performances. SABBATH SESSIONS F/W 2022-23 will be available digitally on February 23, 2023 and today he’s sharing a clip from the album’s lead track, “Trixie’s Fifty”.
The Sabbath Sessions series is designed to help facilitate the connection to himself and the imagination that has come from introspection about his many years of mindfulness and wellness practices, and brings together many different strands of his diverse musical abilities.
These musical meditations represent his first explorations of ambient choral music, in which Wedren’s technique of sampling and looping his famously elastic voice results in a unique kind of sound bath.
About the new album, Wedren notes:
Sabbath Sessions are live improvised vocal looping performances that I enjoy doing, usually in conjunction with yoga, meditation and/or herbal medicine practices. They are unique beasts that offer an alternative to your typical “sound bath” or meditation playlist that can be beautiful but often feels interchangeable and a little light/polite to me.
On the other hand, Sabbath sessions tend to overwhelm the senses a little and can have effects similar to psychedelic plant medicine, leaving the listener (and the performer, me) feeling changed and scrubbed squeaky clean by the time they leave the listening room.
SABBATH SESSIONS F/W 2022-23 documents some recent sessions that I’m happy – and a little apprehensive – to share. I hope you like it!
Wedren first came to attention as the dynamic frontman of Shudder to Think. With their eccentric song structures and complex time signatures, the band proved a significant influence on math rock, post-hardcore and emo.
When Shudder to Think called it quits, Wedren began blazing new important sonic paths of his own, including several solo albums, related collaborative projects, and his music becoming an integral part of some of film and television’s most popular and acclaimed shows.
Craig’s resume as a composer includes extensive collaborations with director Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon, High Art) and David Wain (Role Models, Wet Hot American Summer); and create evocative, distinctly contemporary scores for culturally touching films and TV shows, including The School of Rock, Laurel Canyon, Reno 911!, The State, GLOW, Fresh Off the Boat and Shrill.
In 2022, Lakeshore Records released Blood Hive, the original music from the SHOWTIME series YELLOWJACKETS, featuring music composed by Craig and frequent collaborator Anna Waronker (that dog). The strikingly dark film music is reminiscent of the punk, grunge and garage scenes of the 90s and offers the horror series a dark background.
The album is available digitally and includes an extended version of the main title track “No Return”. Look for Season 2 of the show, which premieres this March with compositions by Wedren and Waronker.