Wye Oak’s Shriek is celebrating its 10th anniversary in a couple months, and to mark the occasion the duo has announced Shriek: Variations, a collection of five tracks from the album that were reimagined by composer William Brittelle. Wye Oak and Brittelle have been in each other’s orbits for a couple years now; alongside the Metropolis Ensemble, they worked out some of the new versions of these tracks live a couple years ago, and Wye Oak contributed to Brittelle’s 2019 album Spiritual America.
“This idea and the ensuing creative reworking of our band did what it was meant to do,” Jenn Wasner shared in a statement, reflecting on the big shift in sound that the band undertook with Shriek ten years ago. “It ended a long, painful period of creative stagnancy and reconnected me with the joy of making music.”
Of the new Variations, Andy Stack had this to say: “It’s like looking at the songs in a funhouse mirror. The songs on Shriek can be stripped down or embellished—this is maximal embellishment. William took the album and blew it to smithereens, looking at it in a weird, prismatic way.”
Listen to the new version of “Logic Of Color” below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Before (Variation)”
02 “Shriek (Variation)”
03 “Sick Talk (Variation)”
04 “The Tower (Variation)”
05 “Logic Of Color (Variation)”
Shriek: Variations will be released alongside a 10th anniversary edition of the album, out 3/22 via Merge. Wasner talked about their collaborations with Brittelle in our We’ve Got A File On You interview with her.