**Wye Oak’s Shriek: Variations Arrives on Merge Records**

Pioneering indie rock duo Wye Oak, composer William Brittelle, Paul Wiancko, Metropolis Ensemble are releasing a reimagined version of the band's 2014 record, Shriek, to celebrate its 10-year anniversary.

Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack from Wye Oak show off the original vinyl Shriek (2014) and Shriek Variations (2024). Composer William Brittelle working in his studio.

Durham, NC— The tenth anniversary of Wye Oak’s band-redefining album Shriek is next month, but it’s never too early to celebrate. Shriek: Variations, Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack’s collaborative reimagining of Shriek with Grammy-winning composer William Brittelle, is out now. Listen to Shriek: Variations wherever you stream music, and order a copy on limited-edition natural & orange swirl Peak Vinyl.

Wye Oak’s introduction to Brittelle around the time of Shriek’s recording placed them at the intersection of classical, experimental, and pop music, fundamentally changing the way Wye Oak approached making records as they incorporated an entirely new palette of sound into their work.

The shift that began nearly a decade ago comes full circle on Shriek: Variations. It may feel like a startling take on the material, something like light bursting into a room through drawn curtains, but Brittelle’s arrangements suggest that his maximalist arrangements have lived comfortably within the framework of Shriek the whole time, waiting for the right moment to emerge.

Since then, Jenn, Andy, William, and Metropolis Ensemble have collaborated on several fruitful projects, including Brittelle’s nascent orchestral arrangements from Shriek and Brittelle’s song cycle, Spiritual America, performed at Symphony Space and Hollywood Bowl in 2018, and later released in 2019 alongside Brooklyn Youth Chorus and Metropolis artists. Jenn also appeared on Brittelle’s 2024 release, Alive in the Electric Snow Dream, on New Amsterdam Records.

It’s a fitting reintroduction to this 2014 Wye Oak album, drawing attention back to the songwriting—how, regardless of the instrumentation, Wasner and Stack’s uncanny music-writing partnership is at the core of what makes both Shriek and Wye Oak excellent. If Shriek is a record that charts the depths of solemnity and inner space, its Variations, roiling in a sea of winds, brass, and strings, recolors that space and complicates it, a gorgeous, unexpected response to the original’s siren call.

Wye Oak will be performing at Merge 35 Music Festival in Carrboro, NC on July 24-27, 2024.

About Wye Oak

Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack have been playing music together and apart in Baltimore for most of their lives. On stage, they perform with raw energy and sophistication, creating a surprising amount of noise for two people. Their music can be classified as 21st-century folk music, imbued with dense shoegaze guitars, nearly melodic rhythms, and impeccable splashes of electronic color. More »

About William Brittelle

William Brittelle is a Brooklyn-based composer, poet, and Grammy-winning producer. Along with Sarah Kirkland Snider and Judd Greenstein he acts as co-artistic director of New Amsterdam Records. He works regularly with Metropolis Ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, and 37dOed and has collaborated with a diverse array of artists including the Baltimore Symphony, Bryce Dessner, Oneohtrix Point Never, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), the Seattle Symphony, Kanye West, and the LA Phil. His most recent project is the 2019 Nonesuch/New Amsterdam release "Spiritual America" featuring Metropolis alongside the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and Wye Oak. Upcoming and recent production projects include albums by violinst/composer Michi Wiancko, keyboardist/composer Erika Dohi, and the Spektral Quartet/Julia Holter performing work by Alex Temple. More »

About Metropolis Ensemble

Metropolis Ensemble is a Grammy-nominated nonprofit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious creative projects and expanding opportunities for emerging professional musical creators and performers to inspire audiences. They partner with world-class institutions to create, commission, and produce site-specific performances, new works, recordings, and digital experiences. More »

About Andrew Cyr

A champion of new work, Grammy-nominated conductor Andrew Cyr has led premiere performances at venues ranging from Cité de la Musique (Paris, FR), The Met Museum, Celebrate Brooklyn(!), New Victory Theatre, Hamer Hall (Melbourne, AU), Radio City Music Hall, BAM’s Next Wave Festival, and the Tonight Show. Cyr’s work as conductor has been described by Esa-Pekka Salonen as “precise, rhythmically incisive and fluid. He made complex new pieces sound natural and organic.” Described as a “prominent influence in the world of newly emerging music” (Washington Post), Cyr’s passion for creating new platforms for outstanding composers and performing artists led him to found Metropolis Ensemble in 2006. More »

About Merge Records

Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989 by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In 2020, Merge Records celebrated its 30th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated, and expanded, the quality we look for in records, as fans, is still there in the music we release on the label. More »

Press Contacts

Armistead Booker, Metropolis Ensemble
press@metropolisensemble.org
(757) 870-4591

Merge Records
press@mergerecords.com

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