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Sonder is defined in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows as the "profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing in the street, has a life as complex as one's own," and The Wrecks precisely capture that feeling in their sophomore album of the same name. While embracing the spirit of creative experimentation, the band's growth is evident in this long-awaited, genre-bending eleven-track record.

The Wrecks started this album cycle with a bang, releasing the sparkling post-breakup anthem "Lone Survivor" and liberating alt-rock track "I Love This Part." The singles showcased that they've fully honed in and welcomed their characteristic genre-bending alt-rock and evolved and matured their sound for this triumphal venture of a second album. Lead vocalist and producer Nick Anderson shares that experimenting with minor keys and calculated lyrics "Opened up [their] writing process. I'd say our lyrics have always been honest and vulnerable, and not only was I able to depend on that narrative compass once again, but I found it taking me to a whole new place this time creatively."

Anderson says the creation process for the album's third single—the pondering "Where Are You Now" featuring girlhouse—"haunted [him] for almost two years." Though he said he wrote the "Where Are You Now" chorus only two weeks after their last album, Infinitely Ordinary, came out in May 2020, the final pieces to the track, Billy Nally's live drums and the feature from girlhouse, were only added this past March. "The drums made it come to life, and Lauren Luiz's part glues the whole track together. I love her voice and music, and I'm so happy with how this feature turned out," he exclaims. 

On Sonder, The Wrecks deliver not only distinctive, witty, frantic genre-bending tracks like the eponymous title track, "Don't Be Scared," and "Ugly Side," but also mesmerizing alt-rock love/loss ballads like "Where Are You Now?," "Dystopia," and "Normal." "I wrote this album because I had to," declares Anderson. "I was slowly and poorly processing a breakup, and for a while there, the breakup was winning. At some point, the tables turned, and the breakup became everything I've needed for the last two years to write music that I was proud of and was true to me as a writer and to the progress of our band." 

We had the chance to sit down and talk to Anderson about Sonder, their upcoming tour, and growing stronger from hard times.

Ones To Watch: Can you describe the early stages of writing and creating Sonder?

The Wrecks: Usually, the case is that I'm just writing a bunch of singles over the course of a year or two, and then they become this collection of songs because we pick our favorite ones of all the songs I wrote for two years. So this time, I kind of did know I was making an album. I didn't care if the genres were all over the place or if they would tie in perfectly or transition perfectly. So I didn't, and I don't really care about that stuff. But I was definitely writing 80-90% of it from the same story and about the same situation. So yeah, I kind of did know coming out of a breakup and coming off a tour that I was gonna have a lot of free time and a lot to say and write about.

In our coverage of "I Love This Part," you mentioned that the record would be sonically all over the place. How do you feel this album compares instrumentally or lyrically to The Wrecks' debut album and other previous releases?

I think it's been a step in a lot of different directions, which is exciting to me. I think when a band takes a step in a different direction, as a fan, it can be kind of a turn-off because you associate a specific sound with that band, but I also think that typically happens when they move on to a different producer. We've never really had that happen with our band because I do the production, and we're very DIY oriented when it comes to making the music. So, because of that, I feel like we get to experiment with more sounds and change and grow as a band without it feeling like it's missing the heart of it. The intangible or innate things in the production are still there because we're still doing it. Even if I think I'm doing something different, there are certain habits or instincts that are going to be in there that I'm not even aware of, like certain dynamics or energies. So this record for me, it was kind of like, "Oh, today I want to write a song about whatever sort of mid-tempo," and "Oh, folk here today," or "I want to make a pop song," or "I want to make a Tame Impala or an Arctic Monkeys type jam." Like, there's all those. It's whatever that day called for or the mood of that song called for. I didn't have any fears about "Does it sound like The Wrecks" because I don't even know what that means. So this is kind of a little something for everyone. Typically, I think it's a bad thing, but this time, I think it's okay. I might be wrong, but who knows?

You're right! This album does have a little bit of everything, from mellow folk to hard-hitting breakup anthems. What were you most excited to experiment with sound and production-wise on Sonder?

I think songs like "Lone Survivor" were something I was excited about. Just feeling the moment, especially on that song, I was like, "Why can't we do that?" The song was coming together and still had the energy of any other song we would put out, and if I liked the song and I think the lyrics were genuine, that's all that matters. So taking a risk like "Lone Survivor" for our band was going to turn off some fans, but it wouldn't turn off all of our fans as long as the lyrics were honest or there was an authentic energy or something real being said. I think we could do whatever we wanted as long as it sounded authentic and as long as the lyrics weren't corny and clearly a money-grab single. I'd vomit before we put out a song that was definitely meant to be in like an Applebee's commercial. Like even if it's poppy, it's still gonna have some sort of edge to it, some sort of angst, resentment, or something authentic. I think that that's where the confidence for the genre fluidity is. Knowing that one, we're still making it in this weird little studio. Two, the lyrics and story behind it are authentic because I think that will come across if it even if it was a dubstep song. It wouldn't matter. As long as there's authenticity in the lyric and vocal delivery, I think we could get away with it.

I will say that my personal, non-single faorites are "Normal" and "Ugly Side." Are there any tracks you're particularly excited for people to hear? 

"Unholy." I think it's one of my more ambitious productions. It's definitely a switch-up for our band. It's undoubtedly still alternative, but it's got a little pop in it. That's an example of a very lyrical-driven track, but also a big production kind of song, so I'm curious to see if that's one that our fans react to, or if it's just one that I think is cool. I'm cool with however it's reacted to. I lean on like, "Oh, do I like it?" and "Let's just go with it," and trust that, and that's what we've done until now. So yeah, "Unholy" is one I really like. I'm hoping that people like it too.

Were there any tracks that really challenged you or tested your abilities? How did you work through any of those issues?

I remember "Ugly Side" was really hard for me to arrange. I was terrified to even record it because I wanted it to sound raw and authentic, but I also wanted it to be interesting. I was so afraid to approach that track, and I definitely tinkered with it a lot until I got to a place where I'm like, "Oh, I like the valleys and the mountains of this song now." "Where Are You Now?" took a while to figure out because I was afraid to finish it. A lot of it is fear, which is funny. Sometimes it's fear. Sometimes it's just because you like the song or something and don't want to screw it up, and you don't have a producer or someone you can trust to just help you through it or start working on it. Instead, it's just like, "Okay, this thing you really love, you get one chance to make it, and this is what it's gonna be forever. Don't blow it." Like all the potential that it could be, the song is just in your head right now, but like, eventually, you're gonna have to hear it recorded in all the potential that it could have had is going to be realized. Then you'll have to face whether or not it was as good as it could have been, if you nailed it, or if you're going to work on it for 1000 extra hours because you're like, "It's not quite there, but it can be. I know it can be." 

I do this thing where I tell myself that every song has the opportunity to be our best song, so I just search for the best song within that in the production, which is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it pulls what I think is the best out of each song and a curse because I overwork myself on all of them. So they all kind of become puzzles in that way.

"Sonder," the title track, was a tough one because I had the verses, and I had the lines in the verses, like the one toward the beginning when I mentioned sonder, and that's why I titled it that, but I didn't have a chorus or a bridge. The only reason I finished that song is because I knew I wanted to name the album Sonder as soon as I wrote it, and it was the first thing I wrote for the record. I was like, "That's the perfect word for this; obviously, I need to finish the song so I can name the album Sonder." I was just so afraid because I loved the demo, the verses, the vibe, and I kept thinking, "Well, what if I blow it with this chorus? I don't even know if it's supposed to have a chorus!" The structure was just weird, and then I just forced myself to sit down and write a chorus one night, and it's one of my favorite songs on the record, and the chorus is the best part. 

How do you feel the definition of the word Sonder translates or expresses itself throughout the album?

The meaning for it in the song is its meaning throughout it because, like that song, it's the same story you'll find on eight or nine or ten songs on the record. Imagine being with someone who almost sees everyone outside of their immediate circle of friends and family as nameless, faceless people. That's kind of what I was struggling with, trying to get through to someone like, "Hey, just because someone's spawn point is somewhere else on this planet, it doesn't mean that they are worth any less than you or that they don't have a life that is just as important as yours and people should be treated accordingly." Not only treated accordingly but considered accordingly. There should be compassion towards those people, and you should take a moment to actually consider their lives and want to learn about them or understand them, or if you don't understand them, give it a second and try to. It wasn't necessarily the idea that I was with someone who just actively didn't want to, but who just never tried to and wasn't interested in anything outside of caring about the people immediately around them. So it was the idea of, "Do you realize that there are other people, and do you treat them with respect?" Even when it comes down to stuff like wearing masks and the vaccine, that ties into it too. That was a major part of why that word made sense. Like, you should do that stuff. It's respect for others, and it's not just about what maybe your family is telling you is the truth here. It's about the fact that everyone around you should be considered, and you should respect those people as if they were your family and friends when it comes to something that was a global emergency. 

On the track "Where Are You Now?" you teamed up with girlhouse and created this mesmerizing alt-rock ballad. How did this creative partnership happen, and what was it like working with her?

Oh my gosh, she's fantastic! It was super quick. It was a really easy decision. So since I started working on the song two years ago, I knew I wanted it to have a feature. I just didn't know who or how it was gonna be, and I had someone try it out, and it just didn't work out. So for the longest time, the demo of it was just my voice pitched up just to hear the song back, you know? Then we asked girlhouse to join us on tour. Aaron [Kelley] found Lauren's music, and we fell in love, and I was like, "Oh my God, her music is amazing!" So when we asked her to come on tour, she said yes I also asked if she would like to be on the song. I needed someone to sing the bridge, and she was like, "Hell yeah!" So then a couple of days later, she sent her vocals, and I just threw them in the session and sent it off to mix didn't even touch them. It was perfect. She killed it.

What have been some of your favorite music moments on the album?

Those moments for me happened when I cracked the code on something. As I mentioned, some songs can be like a puzzle sometimes, but then I switch up my approach or try something different when something isn't working and see what happens. I switch everything up, and then it becomes obvious, and I'm like, "WHOA!" Those moments stick with me because they feel so new and foreign because it felt like I didn't come up with them. The chord progression and baseline in the chorus of "Dystopia" had a totally different progression for the longest time. It felt stale like it didn't work, and then I just started experimenting with a totally new progression underneath the same vocal take, and it ended up being one of the cooler lines in the whole record for me. The bridge to "Unholy," I think, is really cool. That was like another moment where I was like, "Whoa," because I just muted a bunch of stuff and thought it was awesome.

How has your songwriting or production process changed throughout The Wrecks' career?

The subtle things change. I mean, frankly, my abilities to produce have grown and changed. I just learn more about what I'm doing, and things get easier. Sometimes that makes things harder because everything's a creative pursuit where maybe it'd be better if I only knew how to play three or four chords. It's not necessarily always a good thing to know more. There's creativity in limitation, I believe. I think the only tried and true process with creating music is the fact that it's a journey of exploration and discovery. There's no formula.

How are you feeling right now going into your headling tour with Mothé?

I'm so stoked! The tour is selling so much better than we've ever seen before. The rooms are bigger and they keep getting upgraded. It's just new territory for us with the amount of excitement. I just want to survive until the summer, so I can experience it. I feel like it's one of those things where it's like, things are going too well, and something's gonna happen so until then, I'm gonna avoid buses and planes. I think some of the bigger venues like Philadelphia, playing TLA is gonna be really cool, and hopefully selling that out will be wild. New York's gonna be amazing, playing Webster Hall! That's nuts! 

Which song are you most excited to play live?

I think "I Love This Part" will be pretty sick. I think that that's gonna go pretty well live. Man, it's a good question because this is technically our first US headlining tour since putting out our first record too. There's a lot of those songs that we haven't really experienced with these fans. "Feels So Nice," for instance, I would love to see how that goes with some of these crowds. I think that that could be really, really, really sick now that people have had time to learn it and they know the song. I think I'm gonna be shocked by which songs really pop off. Maybe "Sonder" if enough people have enough time to listen to it because it comes out the day the tour starts. 

Check out The Wrecks' latest album Sonder, and be sure to catch them on tour!

6.21 - Indianapolis, IN - Old National Centre
6.23 - Minneapolis, MN - Amsterdam Hall
6.24 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest (The Wrecks only)
6.25 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
6.26 - Grand Rapids, MI - Elevation
6.28 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall (venue upgraded)
6.29 - Buffalo, NY - Rec Room
6.30 - Albany, NY - Empire Underground
7.1 - Asbury Park, NJ - Asbury Lanes (SOLD OUT)
7.6 - Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird Music Hall
7.7 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
7.8 - New York City, NY - Webster Hall (venue upgraded)
7.9 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair (SOLD OUT)
7.10 - Philadelphia, PA - TLA (venue upgraded)
7.12 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground
7.13 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm
7.14 - Orlando, FL - Beacham Theater
7.15 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
7.16 - Nashville, TN - Basement East
7.18 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
7.19 - Austin, TX - Antone's
7.21 - Phoenix, AZ - Nile Theater
7.22 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater (second night added)
7.23 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater (SOLD OUT)