“It’s just more of me”
After releasing five critically-acclaimed albums over the course of 12 years, Heartless Bastards is taking something of a mental break in order for the members to recharge their creative batteries. But for frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom, this was the perfect opportunity to set out on her own and release her first solo record, Sweet Unknown, on Partisan Records. “We’d been going for so long and everyone in the band was just ready for a little break,” Wennerstrom explained on her website. “But I had songs in me that needed to come out. I didn’t think it was fair to push them to keep going and I didn’t want to do it without them under the band name.” Even though the album is Wennerstrom’s own expression, there is still some inflection of the Heartless Bastards, as Jesse Ebaugh plays bass on all but the final track of the album.
After finishing up Heartless Bastards’ most recent tour, Wennerstrom spent time hiking through Big Bend National Park in western Texas. It was on these excursions that Wennerstrom developed many of the ideas that would be found on Sweet Unknown. Sonically, the album is expansive and free of walls or borders. The music fills up the room you’re in before breaking free, ambling down the road toward “Twisted Highway” right from the get-go. The opening track is expansive, echoing and sets the tone for the rest of the album as Wennerstrom belts out a voice reminiscent of both Lucinda Williams and Chrissie Hynde. The following track, “Extraordinary Love,” sounds remarkably similar and features very comparable lyrics that focus on themes of self-care and readjusting yourself back to center.
All but one of the tracks on Sweet Unknown follow along these themes of “I’ve been learning to trust myself with no hesitation” (“Time”) and “I don’t want to be lonely anymore” (“Like A Bird”). While the music beneath the words is different enough on each track, the lyrics make it seem like Wennerstrom is singing about the same thing eight different times on the record. The lone difference is the inspirational fight song “Be Good to Yourself,” where instead of singing in first-person, Wennestrom is speaking to the listener, hoping that you will “Be Good To Yourself” and take heed of the lessons she has expounded on herself in the first half of the album.
Elsewhere, members of Wennestrom’s backing band help elevate tracks to make them stand out on the nine-song set-list. You can clearly hear the chorus come alive in the background of “Like A Bird” alongside the ringing of full guitar chords. The drums and percussion (played by Patrick Hallahan and Danny Reisch, respectively) slam their hardest on the ten-minute introvert’s anthem of “Good To Be Alone,” which also features a soaring guitar solo that makes this track one of the stand-outs on the album.
While Wennerstrom has succeeded in making an album that focuses on messages of self-improvement and resilience, at times Sweet Unknown feels repetitive and safe. If Wennerstrom ever puts out a sequel to Sweet Unknown, greater depth in her storytelling might give her messages even more resonance. But within its gates, you can hear these former themes thoroughly explored through relatively upbeat running tracks like “Letting Go,” or the next-to-slow, phantom-like tracks such as “Staring Out the Window”–a track made even creepier by its heavy use of the bridge pickup and both ascending and descending guitar melodies. Regardless, Sweet Unknown is certainly worth the listen if you’re a Heartless Bastards fan.
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