Group that helped tell the story of Brazilian underground and indie rock for more than two decades, WRY re-releases “Aurora”, its eighth studio album and the first fully in Portuguese. Considered one of the best records of 2022 by the Brazilian music press, the album comes on high quality vinyl from Bilesky Discos. The band also releases a video for “Quero Dizer Adeus” created with Instagram in mind.
The disc now gains exclusive mastering, 180 gram edition and double cover with lyrics with an artistic idea especially for this project. The composition of “Aurora” dialogues to a greater or lesser extent with the dilemmas and urban daily life of a terrified Brazil. That’s why the title of the album takes on this almost daring character of going against the grain of WRY’s own history and the reality of the outside world.
WRY explores sounds and nuances, moving away from what marked the band’s history. On the new album, the sound ranges from post-punk to reggae and dub unafraid to be poetic and sad (“Letter to the Flies”), openly politicized (“We Have an Enemy”), facing change with an open mind (e.g. in the single “Sem Medo de Mudar”) and firmly follows his beliefs (explained in the single “Contramão”).
With production by Mario Bross and João Antunes, who is also responsible for mixing and mastering, “Aurora” is on all streaming platforms and joins a discography that began in 1998 with the release of “Direct”. Since then “Heart-Experience” (2000), “Flames in the Head” (2005), “She Science” (2009), “National Indie Hits” (2010) and the recent “Endless Nights” (2020) and “Reviver ” (2021). Check out the interview!
Telling the story of Brazilian underground and indie rock, WRY recently released the album “Aurora”, which arrives marking the position of eighth album. What were the paths that led you to the realization of this project?
Mario Bross (WRY): Look, there were many paths, and pretty crazy I must say, lol. The first record was in 1998 and the second in 2000, still living in Brazil, then we left for England, where we lived for almost seven and a half years. We played a lot and released works there. The third, fourth and fifth recordings took place in London. There were also two Eps. Then we returned to Brazil and the band broke up in 2010. Part of us had to dedicate ourselves to the concert hall we opened, the Asteroid, here in Sorocaba. However, some time later, to everyone’s surprise, we returned at the end of 2014, a few months after celebrating 20 years of the band’s formation. Since then, there have been three albums and some unpublished singles, in addition to the disc and the remix Eps. All produced in Brazil. We are currently composing what will be the ninth album.
This project is also being remarkable for being the first album to be made entirely in Portuguese, and last year the Brazilian music press considered it one of the main releases.
What made you want to invest in the language and how has the response from the public been?
Mario Bross (WRY): In this case, about releasing Aurora, the first album entirely in Portuguese, it started when we were still living in London, the longing was immense and the time to come back was coming. Having all that in mind, I only thought of Brazil and the first sound in Portuguese was written in English lands. Since then (I’m talking about 2009), we’ve always released songs in both languages. The journey to get to what you got with Aurora was full of study and learning, and there was that four-year hiatus I already mentioned, but I think we released a cool album, this new one. In addition to the fans who are already used to us singing in the native language, because it’s been a long time, Aurora brought us new fans, and that was really good. The people are accepting it very well!
The cool thing about this release is also the retro style, whose album arrived on a high quality vinyl from Bilesky Discos. Reliving the times of this media between the 60s and 90s, was it a privilege? What impression are they making on the new generation of media?
Mario Bross (WRY): We certainly feel privileged, it’s too expensive to press vinyl in Brazil. I want to leave a big salute to Bilesky! Hehehe! This is our vinyl room, the second being twelve inches, we had two seven inches. A lot of people like it, and have been buying it. But people really buy it at shows, and we’re only going to start playing on April 19th, with a show at Sesc in Bauru.
Produced for social networks, the track “Quero Dizer Adeus” won a video clip that was projected for the Instagram platform. In a world where we are increasingly connected, what has been the importance of social networks for the propagation of musical art?
Mario Bross (WRY): It’s almost impossible to release music without using the great tool that social media has. I dare say that there are many people who don’t even think about playing live anymore, they are already satisfied with the online audience, so quickly is the engagement of those who want to know about you. Social networks are not perfect and can be very toxic, you have to know how to use them, and this is really hard work. Doing it right and not getting lost is quite rewarding.
In addition to being a re-release, the project gained exclusive mastering and other changes such as the 180-gram edition of the disc, a double cover with lyrics and an art thought especially for this disc. What were the main changes that occurred from the original release to this new version?
Mario Bross (WRY): Basically it was all done around the same time; mixing and mastering was done exclusively for each format. It only came out as a “re-release” because the factory delayed delivery. Vinyl factories have been in huge demand during and after the pandemic, putting a lot of people in line. There was a band that canceled its release. Luckily, we had a confirmed schedule due to Bilesky’s contract with Poly Som, so the delay was small.
Again, different even from digital is almost everything in reality, with the exception of the cover, works and the sequence of tracks. It gave a lot of satisfaction to do and then see the final result in your hands!
In a statement during the promotion of the album, you said that releasing your first LP on Brazilian soil was a milestone in your career. On that side, how is your connection with the Brazilian public?
Mario Bross (WRY): A lot of people who like WRY appear on our social networks and at shows, and we get along very well, you know. I reply to everyone in the comments and inbox, and we talk to anyone who comes up to us on show night. The underground world is easy and accessible. We have more assiduous fans and others not so much. We also have different eras. We’re happy with the guys and I think they’re waiting for new sounds from us.
Dialoguing directly with dilemmas and situations that inhabit the daily life of large Brazilian cities in an atmosphere of dismay, “Aurora” adopts the bold style of swimming against the current of WRY’s own history. How did the writing process for these tracks go?
Mario Bross (WRY): There were several exchanges via our WhatsApp group. Guitar Riffs, Bass Lines, Lyrics, Inspirations, etc. I would take everything and turn it into demos, recording it at my house at Ableton. And then send them back. There were some feedbacks and then I finished.
When we went to the studio it was very easy, we did the rehearsals to get the drums right and some arrangement that we had already done. These rehearsals lasted about two months. Then, between making all the other arrangements, recording, recording Estevam Neto’s synths, mixing and mastering, it took about three months, a few days a week. It was our fastest job we’ve ever done.
Regarding the musical style, you explored from post-punk, to reggae and dub, without failing to demonstrate something poetic and mournful and openly politicized. How would you define your style in a few words and especially “what is WRY”?
Mario Bross (WRY): Our main musical genre is Alternative Rock, hence the style of playing, arranging and producing, is influenced by Shoegaze, Post-Punk, Dreampop, Britpop, depending on the era and the record. It just doesn’t turn into a musical salad because we have something very particular in essence that ends up sticking everything together as a unique thing, in a “WRY style”. I think this is due to the fact that at the beginning we learned everything in a self-taught way, hehehe! And I think that lasted over time, giving us an authentic characteristic, which only we seem to have. I think that’s WRY, a band with an original sound.
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