Why Bonnie Break Down New Album Wish on the Bone Track By Track: Exclusive

The post Why Bonnie Break Down New Album Wish on the Bone Track By Track: Exclusive appeared first on Consequence .

Track by Track is our recurring feature series in which artists guide readers through each song on a release. Today, the New York trio Why Bonnie break down their terrific sophomore album, Wish on the Bone.

The New York indie rock trio Why Bonnie , led by singer and songwriter Blair Howerton, knows that life can feel like a losing game, and having hope that things get better is an act of fearless courage. It’s a big theme of their new album Wish on the Bone , which expands subtle, minute feelings into existential questions.

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For Howerton, the journey of Wish on the Bone lies in the quest to live an authentic life. She centers her writing on topics like transformation and growth — in relationships and by herself — while also acknowledging the powerless and lack of control that being alive today fosters. Despite the looming darkness of late-stage capitalism throughout the album, Howerton feels Wish on the Bone is as hopeful as its namesake suggests.

“Hope, to me, is strength,” Howerton says in a statement. “These songs were written out of hope for a better future. I’m not naïve, the world is fucked up, but I think you can radically accept that while still believing it’s possible to change things.”

Across 11 songs, Howerton and her bandmates Chance Williams and Josh Malett take some of those radical risks, and the resulting record features some of their sharpest songwriting yet. “This album is about choosing hope, beauty, and love every day because nothing is worth it if you don’t believe in those things,” Howerton says. Simply put, even when the glass is destroyed, you can still find ways to see it half-full.

Stream Wish on the Bone below, and read on for Why Bonnie’s Track By Track breakdown.

“Wish on the Bone”:

This song is about trying to stay hopeful in a world that seems to be falling apart. I loved the image of making a wish on a chicken bone — something that’s typically just seen as scraps — in hopes that some good will come of it.

“Dotted Line”:

It’s about living under the pressures of capitalism and the Faustian bargains we make to keep ourselves afloat. My take on Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.”

“Rhyme or Reason”:

Inspired by my own experience with grief, it’s about the impermanence of life and how that’s scary but also really beautiful. Someday you will lose the things that you love, which is all the more reason to love them while they’re here.

“Fake Out”:

It’s about the frustration that comes from wanting to be authentic in a world that makes it consistently harder to be so. It’s hard to find your own voice when the world around us is so loud with different messages of how you’re supposed to be.

“Headlight Sun”:

A song about the early stages of falling in love, and the feeling of being love drunk on someone’s presence.

“Green Things”:

It’s about the clarity that comes at the end of a relationship in which you were just being told the things you wanted to hear.

“All the Money”:

Capitalism makes us believe that we can buy our way out of our own mortality. When we inevitably find out that we can’t do that, it creates panic and that panic turns to greed. Ergo, money is the root of all evil.

“Peppermint”:

My ballet teacher used to give us peppermints for any kind of ailment. I knew it didn’t actually work, but the placebo effect was strong.

“Three Big Moons”:

A sci-fi inspired look into how solitude can be equal parts lonely and comforting. I also wanted to give a shout-out to my hometown, Houston.

“Weather Song”:

This song is about being in a relationship where you balance each other out and how it makes you feel whole.

“I Took the Shot”:

I thought it’d be nice for the album to end on a soft note — almost like a coda. I wrote and recorded this song years ago, and the original demo made the album with some minor tweaks. While it has a sadness to it, the song ends with a bittersweet resolve. Kind of like saying, “Well that sucked… but what’s next?”

Why Bonnie Break Down New Album Wish on the Bone Track By Track: Exclusive
Paolo Ragusa