Track By Tracks: Wolves I Feed - Plus Ultra (2024)

1. The Unbroken One:

The first track I ever demoed for Wolves I Feed after a sleepless night, thinking about thinking, and some surprising inspiration from Dave Grohl. Turned out to be one of the very last pieces on the album to be finished – sometimes you get bogged down by the minutiae. Read a full journalentry on the song here. 

2. Wild Blood:

No need to gild the lily – it’s a fast, gleeful, and effervescent song about falling in love. Read afull journal entry on the song here.

3. Angel Torn:

The hit song on the album, or so they say. Essentially, it’s a story about the aftermath of “Wild Blood” and the heartbreak that ensued after passions had faded and stark realities had taken their place – plenty of bristling pathos, but not without a sense of bittersweet whimsy. Read a full journal entry on the song here.

4. Broken Clouds:

I seem to recall the point of origin for this song being a curious delve into a nifty little speed-tinkling effect plugin. From thereon, it was business as usual: toying and tinkering, until something of substance had emerged through some strange magic. Songwriting-wise, I feel “Broken Clouds” had a significant impact on my thought process concerning negative space, and that insight ultimately influenced many other arrangements on the album. Read a full journalentry on the song here.

5. Little Bird:

Rarely, if ever, have I been as transparent about the loss of love. Read a full journal entry on the song here.

6. Venus in Scorpio:

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I have a soft spot for cosmic horror and Lovecraftian themes. Even less of a secret is the fact that I tend to overthink, dilate, and endlessly expand upon ideas, to the point where they eventually become too cumbersome to bring to fruition, and I need to change gears and shift lanes. Shed, discard, and streamline. No song on “Plus Ultra” exemplifies this better than “Venus in Scorpio”. Read a full journal entry onthe song here.

7. Abiogenesis:

One of those songs that has walked miles upon miles by my side, remaining in a constant state of reinvention and skin-shedding along the way. The verse riffs have made appearances on at least half a dozen demo outlines over the years, and some of the song’s later segments share double identities of varying shapes and sizes on a number of started-and-scrapped musical iterations over an even longer period of time. A song I was wholly unable to finish and/or put to rest until “Plus Ultra”. Whew. Read a full journal entry on the song here.

8. The Brazen Bull:

...or the tale of how one of the worst periods of my life turned into one of my proudest moments as a lyricist. Read a full journal entry on the song here.

9. Against the Waves:

At its musical heart and storytelling core, “Against the Waves” is an eulogy recited at the funeral of an important romance. A turning of the page was signaled by a sharp crack, the gnaw of tightening rope, and a deafening thump at the end. The death of things. An ode to the passing breeze of fleeting warmth in the grip of howling winds. Read a full journal entry on the songhere.

10. Plus Ultra:

A beacon of hope at the final endpoint. A signal fire of continuation for things that have ended. The soundtrack to the next step after the threshold into the black has been crossed. A soliloquy on what comes after. A celebration of what is endless after the end. Read a full journal entry onthe song here.