Peter Wise has been waiting for this moment for a long time. Wise released EP Without You Here back in 2016, and has spent the intervening years working towards his debut. That’s a long stretch of time, and the person who begins a 2-3 year journey is seldom the same person when they reach the end. In Wise’s case, he’s a more skilled musician with more world experience and the wisdom it imparted inside his brain, and he’s ready to show it off. Today he shares his 10-song debut album Unattached with the world, and we’re excited to premiere the album here on Substream.
The term “Unattached” serves various purposes on Wise’s album. It’s obviously the name of the album, it’s the title of the album’s first track, and it serves as a theme throughout the runtime. On the title track Wise sings of suddenly packing up and living a nomadic existence crossing the country while also paying tribute to the musicians, authors, and artists who have trail-blazed that type of journey before him. While that message stays largely present throughout Unattached, Wise’s musical skills and tastes spread far and wide across the 10 songs. Wise showcases his impressibly deft and nuanced guitar playing on every track, from “Feel The Rain”‘s moving rock ballad chords to pop-rock vibes of previous single and absolute joy “Sandcastle State Of Mind.” Want a great duet to croon with your best friend? Wise lets loose his falsetto on “Can’t Do It Alone” and brings along Tiger Darrow for an effective love song. If you’re in the mood for an old-school, larger-than-life rock behemoth, Wise unleashes everything he has across seven minutes on “Not Anymore/Get On Through.” Throughout all of Unattached Wise never falters, always digging deeper and deeper into his skillset and his psyche to create an album you don’t want to miss.
Asked about the record, Wise said, “Unattached is more or less a journey from egotism to self-awareness and ultimately arriving at some form of selflessness. I wanted to combine the sounds and lyrical sensibilities of early 70’s California rock and folk with the groove and production of modern soul and pop. The album took about 3 years of writing, and a year of recording, so it spans my early twenties and reflects upon that transitional grad and post-grad experience. It’s about facing up to who you are, and learning what ties you can cut away from versus what ties you can’t live without.”
Listen to Peter Wise’s debut album Unattached below. The album is out today through Villainy Records.
