Getting back to your roots can be transformative. When bassist Dante DeCaro amicably departed Wolf Parade in early 2019, the band reversed back to its original form. Singer-keyboardist Spencer Krug, vocalist and guitarist Dan Boeckner, and drummer Arlen Thompson returned to square one like it was 2003 all over again. It took some getting used to but everything fell naturally into place as the trio figured out bass replacements, guitars, and the elements needed to pull together their fifth album Thin Mind (Sub Pop). Sonically induced in streaming synth and anthemic hooks, Thin Mind is a look at the binary state of living halfway in a social- and tech-driven world and outside of it—at one point told from the perspective of ancient vampires. Thin Mind is also a reflection of the Canadian rockers’ new state of camaraderie, “unspoken” codes, and an invisible “entity” they call Wolf Parade.
Tina Eves 