Chicago bedroom producers Sal Plant and Joe Sherman, also known as American Wolf, continue to delight us with their brand new single. Following up on the 80s-infused “Softcore Drama” and the woozy “Not My Life“, the pair’s new offering, “Not Enough”, is a synth-driven and dreamy track that cements their self-attributed status of sad boys. Melancholic and romantic, it indeed deals with low self-esteem and this feeling of being dragged down by your own thoughts and perception.

Remaining quite mysterious and sometimes even contradictory, the band seems to ration out online information about its members or its future releases. After all, wolves are quite mysterious and elusive, aren’t they? In any case, we know that there’s an American Wolf‘s EP or full-length album on the way, so stay tuned…

Chicago bedroom producer Sal Plant is back with another dreamy chillwave tune as American Wolf. Originally a 5-piece, American Wolf became Plant’s solo project in 2015; he single-handedly wrote, recorded, mixed, and produced his 2019 singles “Growing Pains” and “Not My Life.”  In a turn of events, “Softcore Drama” was written in collaboration with drummer Joe Sherman, a member of the original American Wolf lineup.

The track was recorded exclusively on analog synthesizers and features a vintage 1980s Roland TR-505 drum machine, lending to its lush, layered, and shimmering sound. It takes multiple listens to pick apart the individual tones and melodies, creating a different listening experience every time the listener presses “play.”

The song begins nearly at full force, already amid a field of complex and layered synth harmonies. The drums kick in after a few seconds of lead-in, bringing a bit of a harsh edge to the sweet and soaring synth backdrop. The lyrics add depth and warmth to the floaty chillwave sound; Plant hits a high, Neon Indian-like register with plenty of reverb to convey his dreamy message:

[su_quote]The tune is inspired by the moments right before we fall asleep, where thoughts cease to make sense and we drift into sleep…where reality meets absurdity of our conscious and the subconscious. The song itself is about looking back into the past, seeing the white and fading pictures. You forget what really happened, and you have this memory that perhaps isn’t even what truly happened.[/su_quote]

American Wolf plans to put out an EP sometime in the near future. Until then, enjoy “Softcore Drama” below.

Following up on the immediately likable “Growing Pains,” Chicago’s American Wolf unveils today a new single supposedly taken from his fourth studio album. Conveying a woozy feeling in between fantasy and reality, “Not My Life” is a languid and elusive chillwave track with bittersweet soundscapes and somewhat existantial lyrics. Melancholic and dreamy, this new offering also comes with a vaporwave-inspired video which was produced, written, edited, and directed by Jeff Engelmann of 3E Creations. Watch below.

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8a18Hjy2IM&feature=youtu.be”]

Another year has come and gone, and even with one week of 2019 already behind us, many are likely still wondering how we can make this year better than the last. And with American-Wolf‘s newest single, the immediately likable “Growing Pains,” we’ve been blessed with a sparkly, little gem of a song that reflects a similar bittersweet sensation — an excited commitment to be better versions of ourselves despite knowing that we’ve felt this way before.

Opening with warm, wobbly synth pads, the bedroom-dreamwave track’s chord progression echoes this sentiment by first ascending up the scale before climbing right back down to where we began, ad infinitum. It’s a clever structure that suggests something uplifting while ultimately maintaining stasis. When the full instrumentation lands fifteen seconds in, with a gorgeously melodic top line and those huge snare drums, you just can’t help but smile. But then, just as you’ve nearly lost yourself in head-swaying bliss, American Wolf‘s singer throws down some unexpectedly gut-punching lines:

“I dream a way forward / I’m not coming home again.”

“Look behind your eyes / You grew up, now it’s aching.”

Growing pains, indeed. Falling somewhere between a more pop-oriented Washed Out and a less-hyperactive Passion Pit perhaps, American Wolf end the song by declaring, “This is something so that you forget all the trouble from the mess you made.” The simultaneous joy and melancholy of such a statement sounds a lot like growing up, something that can be revisited with the onset of every new year. Hopefully the Chicago band’s long-awaited fourth studio album will arrive in this one.