DEAD OCEANS
Wednesday - Bleeds Wednesday
An intoxicating collection of narrative-heavy Southern rock that — like many of the most arresting passages from the North Carolina band’s highlight reel so far — thoughtfully explores the vivid link between curiosity and confession.
'Bleeds' is not only the best Wednesday record—it’s also the most Wednesday record, a patchwork-style triumph of literary allusions and outlaw grit, of place-based poetry and hair-raising noise.
Karly Hartzman—founder, frontwoman, and primary lyricist—credits Wednesday’s tightened grasp on their own identity to time spent collaborating on previous albums, plus a tour schedule that’s been both rewarding and relentless. “'Bleeds' is the spiritual successor to 'Rat Saw God', and I think the quintessential ‘Wednesday Creek Rock’ album,” Hartzman said, articulating satisfaction with the ways her band has sharpened its trademark sound, how they’ve refined the formula that makes them one of the most interesting rock bands of their generation. “This is what Wednesday songs are supposed to sound like,” she said. “We’ve devoted a lot of our lives to figuring this out—and I feel like we did.”
Just like 'Rat Saw God', one of the defining rock & roll records of the 2020s so far, 'Bleeds' came together at Drop of Sun in Asheville and was produced by Alex Farrar, who’s been recording the band since Twin Plagues. Hartzman again brought demos to the studio, where she and her bandmates—Xandy Chelmis (lap steel, pedal steel), Alan Miller (drums), Ethan Baechtold (bass, piano), and Jake “M.J.” Lenderman (guitar)—worked as a team to bulk-up the compositions with the exact right amounts of country truth-telling, indie-pop hooks, and noisy sludge. More than ever, the precise proportions were steered by the lyricism—not only its tone or subject matter, but also the actual sound of the words, as well as Hartzman’s masterfully subjective approach to detail selection.
Every image or scene is filtered through Hartzman’s agile, writerly brain. The particulars deemed essential all contain revelations about Hartzman’s specific obsessions and vulnerabilities, about the fragmented way she processes the world. Maybe sometimes the best way to locate truth or pain or dignity within your own life story, 'Bleeds' suggests, is by crawling into someone else’s.
Track List
2. Bleeds
3. Townies
4. Wound Up Here (By
Holdin On)
5. Elderberry Wine
6. Phish Pepsi
7. Candy Breath
8. The Way Love Goes
9. Pick Up That Knife
10. Wasp
11. Bitter Everyday
12. Carolina Murder Suicide
13. Gary’s II
Pickup available at Cambridge
Usually ready in 24 hours. Unless it's a Pre-Order
Product information
Shipping
We aim to keep postage costs as low as possible while making sure your records arrive safely. All orders are packed securely using Defenda MusicMax stiff cardboard mailers, with plenty of “FRAGILE” tape, to provide the best protection in transit.
Shipping costs are calculated automatically at checkout based on the weight and destination of your order, along with packaging materials.
We send most orders via Royal Mail tracked services. For larger or heavier orders, we may use a courier service or split your order into multiple parcels to ensure it arrives safely and efficiently.
Pre-orders
Any items ordered alongside a pre-order item will be held back and posted alongside your pre-order. If you’d like them sent individually, please make separate orders.
On the subject of pre-orders, please note than release dates can change (sometimes not until the scheduled release date). Please keep an eye on our website
Returns
Returns Procedure
If you wish to cancel or return an order, you need to notify us by email (quoting your order number), and wait for us to get back to you before returning goods.
We will email you with instructions and a returns reference number. When returning items to us, you will need to take reasonable care to ensure they are not damaged in transit and that they are labelled clearly with the correct address & reference number (as provided by us) :
Relevant Record Café,
260 Mill Road
Cambridge,
CB1 3NF.
We reserve the right to not process returns sent to us without prior permission.
It’s your responsibility to retain possession and to take reasonable care of the goods in the period prior to return and until you send them back to us.
Your Right To Cancel An Order
Your right to cancel your order starts from the moment you place the order, and ends 14 days from the time you receive your order.
Non-Faulty Products
If you wish to return a product because it’s unwanted or it was ordered in error, please follow the returns procedure (see above).
We’ll happily accept a return as long as the product is still in its original shrink-wrapped packaging and is completely undamaged. You have 14 days from when you receive your order to notify us that you wish to return your order.
By opening a sealed product in any way (or using any digital download code accompanying your order), you waive your right to cancel or return your order.
Obviously we’d rather offer you store credit (in the form of a gift card), but if you’d prefer a refund, we promise to get this sorted within 14 days of receiving your return.
Please take care when ordering!
Faulty Products
If you believe you have purchased a faulty or damaged record, please follow the returns procedure (see above).
Once we receive your record, it will be tested by a member of staff in store.
If your record is deemed as faulty, you will be entitled to a refund, swap or store credit (to the same value as your initial purchase).
If this record is not deemed as faulty, we will not cover any additional postage and packaging costs incurred by either you or us, and we will not be able to offer you a refund, store credit or swap.
Basically, please be absolutely certain the record you have purchased is faulty before following the returns procedure. If possible, we suggest testing the record on different turntables and weighting the tone arm differently.
Steepletone and Crosley Record Players
After having several “faulty” records returned to us (that in actuality had nothing wrong with them), we cannot guarantee that any records we sell will play correctly Crosley or Steepletone branded record players.