Name: Mother
Brand: The Wandering Hearts

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

BRV129

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2024-03-22

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

810098507646

Total Cap

Black LP

BRC129

810098507653

Artist

The Wandering Hearts

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Chrysalis

The roots of Chrysalis stretch back to a tiny flat in West London in 1967, when former university social secretaries, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis, linked their flair for managing and booking bands to form the Ellis Wright Agency. After trying to release their bands' records via other companies, they decided to start their own label.

In 1968, they signed a licensing deal with Island Records with the proviso that if their acts achieved an agreed number of hits, they would be awarded a label of their own. Within a year, this tally was reached and Chrysalis Records was born.

Over the years, Chrysalis went through various ownership changes. In 1985, Chris Wright bought out Terry Ellis and later sold the label to EMI in 1991. EMI was then acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 before selling the Parlophone Label Group (including Chrysalis) to Warner Music Group in 2013.

London country-folk-pop quartet the Wandering Hearts followed in the footsteps of Ward Thomas, the Staves, and the Shires as part of the vanguard in the new British Americana scene of the mid-2010s. The seeds of the band were sown in late 2015 when Tim Prottey-Jones and Tara Wilcox found themselves singing at the same gig, and immediately hit it off over their shared background. Both were hard-bitten pros: the heroically bearded Prottey-Jones was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor who had worked extensively in musical theater and as a session musician; Wilcox, with years of experience under her belt, had her own singing school. Shortly thereafter, they were introduced by mutual friends to singer/guitarist A.J. Dean, an alumnus of "the U.K.'s premier rock 'n' roll band" the Bluejays; and Francesca "Chess" Whiffin, also a former musical theater performer. Deciding to get together at Tim's apartment over G&Ts to play some songs he had written, the quartet clicked at once. Christening themselves the Paper Hearts, they recorded two demo songs, "Today Is Ours" and "Sunshine," which they uploaded to SoundCloud, leading to a flurry of immediate interest. The deft fingerpicking, rousing choruses, dark-hued lyrics, and sweet, close vocal harmonies drew comparisons to Fleetwood Mac, whom the band later acknowledged as a major influence along with First Aid Kit, the Civil Wars, Tom Petty, Simon & Garfunkel, and Cara Dillon. Within a month, they had been invited to audition for Decca, who signed them on the spot. Rebranded the Wandering Hearts, probably to avoid confusion with any of numerous other acts with the same name, they played a number of high-profile festival shows in 2016, and released their debut single, the bittersweet "Wish I Could," early in 2017. Their debut album 'Wild Silence' was released in February 2018.
In january 2019 Tim Prottery-Jones left the band and The wandering hearts went on as a trio.

Motherhood changes everything. Little moments assume a much greater significance, and every memory holds the potential to last forever. Responsibilities expand, yet joy does as well. The Wandering Hearts intimately explore this maternal transformation on their aptly titled third full-length offering and Chrysalis Records debut, Mother. The UK trio — Tara Wilcox [vocals], A.J. Dean [vocals, acoustic guitar], and Francesca “Chess”Whiffin [vocals, mandolin] — chronicle this season of growth and change across eleven tracks.

“During the process, we really found ourselves as a band. Motherhood has helped us grow and find meaning. It brought our writing and performing to a different level.” Notes Chess, "From the get-go, it felt like the most authentic and true representation of who we are now."

Mother started as a folk EP but incorporates elements of folk, Americana, rock, blues, pop and more with the band's vocals tying them all together, A.J. explains "We were really just making an album for us. We think the result is the best music we've ever made.”

Mother

Music GB

Discover "Mother" by The Wandering Hearts. A transformative exploration of motherhood on their Chrysalis Records debut. Vinyl records available.