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Credit: Jenn Wasner
For Wye Oak frontwoman, Bon Iver touring guitarist, and indie producer Jenn Wasner, living in the 2020s is about facing the negative cycles forced upon us by modern life.
On her new album, The Life You Save – released under her solo moniker Flock of Dimes – Wasner asks: What does it take to stop repeating those same cycles? Her musical answer makes for possibly the most emotionally resonant record of her career.
“It’s about codependency and generational trauma,” she says. “For years I thought I was the one who got away; that I’d escaped. The turning point was admitting that I’m still inside it after all.”
Anyone who’s been surrounded by addiction will identify with the themes of her latest songs. Wasner is clear: addiction isn’t just the addict’s story. It’s the story of everyone around them too – caretakers, fixers, and those who pretend they’ve moved on but secretly nurse the same old wounds.
She explores the issues of growing up in a family who didn’t have the language to talk about trauma, learning to “fix” situations by overachieving, and entering adulthood with the belief that it’s all about optimizing every aspect of life.
“My role was to see myself as outside of it,” she says. “To believe I’d escaped and maybe come back as some kind of rescuer. But that’s pride talking; that’s ego. The truth is I was still in it. Still repeating it.”
The concept is carried beyond her lyrics in an intimate acoustic manner. As fingers scrape strings, a raw vocal performance gives every word weight.
“I wanted it to feel aggressively human,” she explains. “I didn’t want a record that pushed anyone out. I wanted something people could sit inside, even if the feelings were uncomfortable.”
Wasner’s return to acoustic guitar was a matter of timing.
“When I was younger I avoided acoustic because of the ‘female singer-songwriter’ trope,” she explains. “I didn’t want to be pigeonholed. But now I don’t feel like I have anything to prove. I wanted to make something honest.”
Credit: Jared Litchenberg
The backbone of her current sound comes from a collection of ‘70s and ‘80s Yamaha FG75s. While they’re not as flashy as one might assume, they’re disarmingly warm and alive. In contrast, a lot of her textures began with pedals like the Chase Bliss Habit, MOOD, and the always-on Warped Vinyl, used less for fireworks than for atmospherics.
Juggling tools and technology may be a more modern way of making music – and Wasner ensures her gear is used to serve artistic requirements, rather than the other way around.
“Sometimes I build the world first then write inside of it,” she says. “I’ll make a loop with Habit and let it sit. I’ll come back the next day to find it’s unlocked something emotional that I couldn’t access otherwise.”
Credit: Mike Gustafson
Songs like Defeat wrestle with the challenge of being understood across a personal chasm, as she explains: “Trying to build a world between the things I say and what I think they mean.”
The vulnerability exposed in The Life You Save informs how Wasner shares the music. She’s been doing living room shows, playing in people’s homes and connecting with every individual who attends.
“In our current hell timeline, full band tours often lose money,” she reflects. “House shows let me connect human to human. They feel aligned with my values. I don’t want unchecked growth; I just want a sustainable ecosystem – a small homey corner where I can keep working.”
The album emboldens listeners to stop performing resilience and admit they’re human.
“It’s is the best thing I’ve ever made,” Wasner says with a quiet certainty. “It has a confidence I couldn’t have found 10 or 20 years ago. It’s me now – creatively, emotionally, spiritually.”
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