Wallows: "We needed to make sure that our third album made sense and that we were making it for such spaces as arenas and amphitheatres"

Just one week before they drop their third album Model, Los Angeles indie-rockers Wallows  – Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters and Cole Preston – are hitting various UK record stores to promote the LP. In a few days, they’ll return Stateside to celebrate the release with a slate of pop-up events, before heading back on the road.

Such a schedule would drive mere mortals to mind-boggling fatigue, perhaps topped off by a headache-inducing caffeine dependence to stave off burnout. But not these guys. They’re in good spirits, boasting savoir-faire in spades. Jetlag might burn the eyes more severely these days compared to their early tours. But a new era is on the horizon, and with that comes an obvious sense of excitement.

“Every time we put out an album, it feels like we’re expanding the band and expanding the world the songs live in,” says lead guitarist and vocalist Braedon Lemasters, over Zoom from London. “It’s certainly exciting, and challenging in many ways. But at the end of the day, it’s mainly just fun.

“Having a third album is definitely a big feat,” Lemasters continues. “We have big shoes to fill. It feels really exciting. I was telling the dudes that I listened to the album earlier and was just imagining people listening to it. I’m super pumped for everyone to hear it. But it’s a huge feat: the shoes fit nicely.”

Lead singer and guitarist, Dylan Minnette, can hardly contain his laughter: “He was telling me this exact thing about fifteen minutes ago, so you asked at the perfect time.”

From the outset, you get the impression that Dylan, Braedon and Cole are still childhood best friends at heart, who just so happen to be one of indie rock’s biggest acts. They’ve grown together as bandmates, especially in terms of their creative output, collaboration and sonic exploration, attracting an ever-expanding horde of devotees. Model charts this growth well.

“I think we’re very aware that we’re still introducing ourselves to the majority of the world,” Minnette offers. “There’s a lot of people who have yet to hear Wallows. We wanted to make sure this album was as easy to approach and digest as possible.

“That isn’t to say that our last two albums were overly challenging, by any means. But they definitely demanded your attention. This album still does that, but we wanted it to feel like you could put it on at any time.”

STADIUM READY

Model sees the band trade their signature bedroom indie-pop sound for a stadium-ready alt-rock sensibility. It's a natural step for one of indie music’s fastest-rising outfits, more or less guided by premeditated plans for a huge global tour, which kicks off later this summer. Having booked arena headliners before they even began the album, the stadium sound loomed large in the recording sessions.

“It was really helpful to have that North Star as a guide,” Minnette continues. “We knew the album would be a moment and statement from us either way. We wanted it to represent that moment well and fill the space of these venues.

“Not that we were super strategic going into it, but it wasn’t the time to make our most intricate and experimental album. We needed to make sure that our third album made sense and that we were making it for such spaces as arenas and amphitheatres.”

When it came to recording, the lads re-enlisted old friend and producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, The Murder Capital), who brought the Wallows vision to life on their debut album, Nothing Happens – a record which spawned such viral hits as ‘Scrawny’ and ‘Are You Bored Yet?’, featuring Gen Z peer Clairo. Teaming up again with Congleton opened the band’s eyes to new methods of working, and changed how they viewed themselves as songwriters and producers.

“We spent a lot of time overthinking each song on our last album Tell Me That It’s Over,” drummer Cole Preston remarks. “This time, we spent about two months recording the whole thing. Having to operate under a bit of pressure and make quick decisions was really good for us. We ended up with way more material than ever.”

BIGGER AND BETTER

The goal was to lay down the minimum number of parts, with the least amount of production. The objective was to make the songs sound bigger, and to enable each to occupy its own sonic world.

“We knew going in that we wanted the mixes to sound bigger and better than ever. And we’ve found that such mixes are the ones with the least going on,” Minnette adds. “We definitely didn’t overload instruments and tracks onto the record. I think we stayed pretty close to our goal of not just throwing shit at a wall.

“As a result, Model has more clarity and definition than our previous albums, in terms of the production.”

With a broad palette of songs to choose from, the challenge was to create a clear and cohesive narrative.

“Because we had so many songs, it was a bit difficult to pin down the title of this record,” Preston reflects.

The cover for Model features an analogue image, taken by Glaswegian director and photographer Aidan Zamiri, of a white-washed sitting room that feels more like a film set in-between takes than a lived-in space: a vintage leather couch, a plaid armchair and lace curtains framing a granular backdrop of an artificial sunset.

That image, and the record’s title – Model – evoke a glimmering facsimile of reality, a reeling representation of the very word “model.”

“I think the basic meaning of ‘model’ is that some things are not exactly as they appear,” Preston reveals. “Aidan once used the phrase ‘constructed space’ and I thought that resonated with us. We also felt this pressure with our third record to be a sort of ‘model band’. We answered to so many people, with various opinions and pointers, for this record.

“We just ultimately decided that we’re the ones who know the fans and we’re the ones in the studio, so let’s just trust ourselves and the fans. And that’s exactly what we’re doing with Model.”

• Model is out now.