To say that Wunderhorse had a phenomenal 2024 would be no exaggeration. From a slew of back-to-back tour dates to the release of their second album Midas, there’s no question why the British rock band were named XPN’s January Artist to Watch.
Made up of singer and guitarist Jacob Slater, guitarist Harry Fowler, bassist Peter Woodin, and drummer Jamie Staples, Wunderhorse took shape as a band while touring their debut album, Cub. Initially conceived as Slater’s solo project, the group evolved into an official four-piece with the release of Midas.
I had the chance to catch up with the band ahead of their sold-out show at Underground Arts this weekend. Fresh off the road after kicking off their U.S. headline tour in New York City and Washington, D.C., they were gearing up for their third consecutive night of performing. Despite some aches and soreness, the band was in good spirits, joking that by night three, they were already well warmed up for the tour.
Wunderhorse | photo by Emma Zoe Polyak for WXPN
“It’s always slightly daunting to do US tours just because of the distance,” shared Slater. “But so far it’s all been clustered around one area, so it’s been relaxed.”
Having such a relaxed outlook wasn’t always the case for the band when it came to the road. It’s something that they’ve been working on, and after previous tours where they’ve had to pull driving, loading, and general chaos-management duties, the band emphasized the value of having a positive outlook at the front end of a tour. “You can have a bad experience on one tour,” said Fowler. “But if you expect the same thing again, you start off on the wrong footing.”
It also helped to have Christmas off, allowing the band to reset after a December run of shows opening for Sam Fender in the UK. For Slater, that meant a chance to surf, while others spent the time visiting with family and friends.
For Wunderhorse, a chance to disconnect is also conducive to their writing process. “With the writing, you almost want to separate yourself from it and let it do its own thing,” said Slater.
I asked the band to talk more about the recording process for Midas, a gritty and emotive album that’s full of intense and anthemic post-grunge tracks, as well as soaring ballads that offer a more subdued and introspective glimpse at the band. There’s a sense of imperfection in the album – a sense of urgency and spontaneity that was an intentional choice to contrast from Slater’s “neat” impression of Cub.
“A lot of the songs [on Midas] are captured in a sort of embryonic, gray area where they were written, but hadn’t been fully learned yet, so there’s a sense that we were all still figuring them out,” said Slater of the recording process. “We didn’t have time to have them ingrained yet, which meant that there was a kind of looseness of how we played.”
“It was a really good period for everyone just to be involved at the birth of these ideas,” added Staples, “[Slater] would have some bare bones, and we’d all flesh it out there in the studio together with our producer.”
A nod of agreement passed through the group, with Woodin speaking to the fact that they recorded Midas in Minnesota in a somewhat remote location. “We came in with very little, and the second we got to the studio, I felt that we were going to be in safe hands around that area.” “Isolation is good for us,” chimed in Slater, and Woodin elaborated: “Not just the place we were in physically, but also just not engaging too much with technology as well.”
Speaking of technology, the group shared that they tried to listen to records as much as possible while creating Midas. Physical media was also something that made its way into conversations about the track order on Midas – with the band very conscious of how the album would sound when played on vinyl.
Wunderhorse | photo by Emma Zoe Polyak for WXPN
The same care for nuance and atmosphere that shaped the creation of Midas was evident in their live performance. Starting off strong with album opener “Midas,” the energy of the show was through the roof.
Earlier, I had asked each member which song they enjoyed playing live the most. Although subject to change from night to night, for Staples, it’s all the heavy hitters that allow him to smash it on drums, for Woodin it’s “July,” and for Fowler, it’s “Arizona” and the satisfaction of nailing the intricacies of the guitar tunes.
Slater answered almost immediately with “Rain,” and midway through their set, I got to see why. The soft-spoken frontman from two hours ago transformed into a wailing, manic conduit for all things punk, ad-libbing and screeching into his mike, guitar tossed aside to allow for his frenzied movements. Truly, the entire band seemed to transform, channeling a confidence that can only come with giving everything to the moment.
Slater’s vocals were passionate and raw the whole set, at times fading out mid-line from the sheer exertion and energy put into his performance. Even songs like “Purple” and “Teal” from Cub were transformed into something gritty and primal, allowing for the spontaneity that the band strives for.
Their hour-long set was over too fast, despite being filled with all their hits. They ended with “July,” a thundering, soul-crushing beauty of a song. From whispers to guttural screams, Slater knew how to get the crowd moshing. The band let their guitars ring out as they exited the stage, leaving the Philly crowd to awake from the feverish trance of the show.
Check out more photos and the setlist from Wunderhorse’s Underground Arts show below. The band’s North American tour continues Tuesday, January 28th, at Le Belmont in Toronto; full dates here.