Today, Wye Oak present Tween, a collection of eight songs born, raised, and almost abandoned for various reasons during the years between 2011’s breakthrough Civilian and 2014’s reinvention-of-sorts, Shriek. 

The word “tween” implies a certain, very specific kind of awkwardness, and those implications are rarely positive. But think about it like this: Something “tween” is in the process of becoming something else, and there’s a very specific kind of beauty in that becoming. There’s something rewarding in recognising and celebrating it—in meeting it halfway. 

Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack—the band’s two halves—described these songs as “not emblematic of a step forward, but a step sideways in time.” In other words, they just don’t make sense for album number five—which will happen at some point in the future. But just because they don’t belong there doesn’t mean they don’t belong anywhere. To wedge them onto Shriek would’ve been dishonest; to orphan them would’ve been somewhere on the line between criminal and just plain silly.

Watch the brooding new video for “Watching the Waiting” now, of which Wasner writes: “This song is about learning how to understand and accept who I truly am, and present myself more honestly to the world, without any illusions or pretence. The truth is in the mirror, but it is also much, much deeper.” 

Co-directed by Ashley North Compton and Michael Patrick O’Leary, the video was shot in Baltimore and edited by Owen Lang. Compton described the inspiration behind the clip: “The mirror-hair girl—inspired somewhat by the Sutherland sisters, and the concept of external-internal individuation and connection—first originated as a painting and was brought to life to emulate the song’s momentum and drive.”

Watch the video for “Watching the Waiting": www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlbmiLcX2sQ

All eight tracks on Tween are available now via http://wyeoak.lnk.to/tween.