When so much music in the world sounds a little samey, it’s exciting to hear something totally fresh. Thank god for bands like Mulubinba/Newcastle collective SF Wrens who are really shaking things up with their latest single “The Finish Line.” From the bold horn intro, you know this is something outside the box. Then the rapping kicks in! SF Wrens manage to pack so many twists into a little over four minutes, it’s blown my mind. The fusion of hip-hop, jazz, and funk is fearless, dynamic, and utterly unforgettable.
“Our process changes from song to song, generally driven from lyrical ideas brought to the band by Duncan Woods [SF Wrens’ vocalist and guitarist], then sculpted in the rehearsal studio and taken to the stage when it’s very undercooked. It’s there that the musical ideas take their final shape which is always terrifying but pretty exciting,” SF Wrens explained. “In the case of ‘The Finish Line’, Duncan freestyled the verses for nearly a year before they were set in stone, musical interludes came and went until we settled on the final arrangement we recorded.”
When bands release music so bold and genre-bending, I always wonder what they’ll deliver live. Music lovers in their hometown can find out when SF Wrens play a free show to launch “The Finish Line” at The Oak on May 8.
Photo credit: Sophie Metcalfe