The Wooden Wings Explore Their Rock Side on "Ashamed"

The indie folk-rock band returns after time off from performing with a more aggressive sound that remains true to their roots.

Today, The Wooden Wings released a surprising new track, “Ashamed.” Since the band’s inception, Molly Portier and former My Spilt Milk contributor Cherie LeJeune crafted folk-rock songs with an indie sensibility. The core of their songs has always been their voices and an acoustic guitar, even when the songs were electric. “Ashamed” is a more physical track, and more immediate because of it. 

The band has kept a low profile for the last year. They decided to take time off from performing to focus on the music they wanted to record. “This is our first studio record,” Portier says. “We wanted to do it right and give it our full attention. These songs took on a whole new life in the studio thanks to our incredible producer Ben Lorio at The Music Shed. He transformed our little demos into full-blown productions and made us step outside of our comfort zone. I think that's what we really needed as a band to grow.”

Porter recognizes how different “Ashamed” is from the band’s previous work, but she sees the through-line too. “We pulled a lot of inspiration for this album from female pop-rock artists that we love and admire like Meg Myers and Ryn Weaver,” she says. “At our core, we're singer-songwriters, but we love rock n' roll and we wanted both to shine through on the record.

“‘Ashamed’ is about being your fullest, truest self in a relationship. It's a pretty dark song at points, but it's not about a dark relationship. It's about a good one. It’s about perseverance. Relationships requires brutal honesty, pushing past surface-level emotions to realize what you actually feel. It's about listening to someone, and it's about honesty.”