Across thirteen tracks, singer/songwriter Brennan Wedl pulls from the best of country and grunge rock, forging a new union between the two on her dynamic self-titled debut record.

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There are moments that we feel are one in a million, and sometimes they are actually just a gas station at dusk.

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On Brennan Wedl’s self-titled LP, you can sense that old-school country is holding hands with ’90s rock.

Released via ANTI- Records, the album plants itself firmly in a beautifully hybrid genre referred to as “grungetry.”

Wedl is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, a member of the now-retired garage rock band Dazey and the Scouts, and a current Nashville resident, all of which is reflected across thirteen tracks that could summon Hank Williams and Shannon Hoon in equal measure. Lyrically, Brennan Wedl seems to be all about expansiveness: Landscapes of possibility and metaphors for infinity abound, all orbiting something Wedl calls the “supervoid.” “My blue sky heart is a supervoid,” she sings out in the first verse of the third track, “Pretty Little Fantasy.”

When she called me from her home in Nashville, I asked her to tell me more about it – and if she had any advice for someone looking to exit their own supervoid. “I think a supervoid is when you stop listening to your gut,” she explained. “You stop listening to the voice inside your head. Just not thinking for yourself is a supervoid.” It makes sense that this concept first appears in “Pretty Little Fantasy,” where the chorus describes the temptation of altering oneself for the benefit of another: “what do you want from me, a pretty little fantasy?” It’s one of the grungier tracks, something that fans of her work on the 2017 Dazey and the Scouts album, Maggot, will no doubt enjoy.

When the supervoid is referenced again in the chorus of track five, “Tasmanian Devil,” Wedl’s songwriting shifts slightly to channel the declarative delivery of Beck and the droll vocals of CAKE. “The business is harsh, The flavor is real,” she sings, a line that aptly reflects a journey of more than ten years that has led to an album produced by Katie Crutchfield and Brad Cook, featuring lead guitar by Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail. Still, Wedl’s recommendations for self-actualization are wonderfully simple.

“For getting out of [the supervoid], I recommend touching grass,” Wedl advised. “And maybe talking to an elderly person. Cool elders can help us get out of the supervoid, I think.”

Given that songwriters and elderly people are tied in first place for their proclivity toward storytelling, it makes sense that Wedl recommends this – there’s a real-recognizes-real type of connection to be found between a songwriter and an octogenarian.

I asked her more about the things that inspire her songwriting outside of music itself.

“Eavesdropping on people in public spaces, and The Sopranos,” she expanded. “There’s so many different sides of Tony Soprano, depending on who he’s hanging out with. I am very inspired by The Sopranos.”

The concept of one person’s dimensionality being brought out by others is something musicians understandably sense and appreciate; no music is made in a vacuum. Whether you’re channeling the inspiration of a muse or in the studio with someone who’s a prodigy at an instrument you’ve never even picked up, music is inherently collaborative. “We were just having fun, and eating a bunch of candy, and it just felt very personal,” she explained of working with such a talented team in the studio. “It was amazing to get some pointers on what I couldn’t really see. Like, Katie Crutchfield was so good about pointing out what my blind spots were.” She described the dynamic as a kind of literary foil, with the benefit of discovering more of her own depth deriving directly from her willingness to be seen.

“My mom told me that I was always very fearless about going up to other kids at the playground. And I think collaboration is a radical act in a time that can feel like every man for themselves,” Wedl continued. “I’ve always been a collaborator, and I hope to always be one.”

I asked her what some of her favorite collaborative songs of all time were, mentioning “Airplanes” by B.o.B. and Hayley Williams. “‘Airplanes’ is such a great example,” she laughed in agreement. “There’s so many good features, and often the more outrageous the feature and the mashup, the better. But top of the list for me, because neither group has a song that sounds like that, but together, merged, they made something new, it’s gotta be ‘Silk Chiffon’ by MUNA and Phoebe Bridgers.”

Turning to her favorite lyrics from the album, Wedl landed on track eight, “Airplane Movies,” and began reciting. “Some dreams last a lifetime, some come true in a day. I spotted a four leaf clover in the lot of Circle K. Hey, the world will keep bending in a million different ways,” she said, the words landing just as hypnotically when spoken as when she sings them. “In America, I think a common scene is a gas station parking lot at dusk,” she explained of the song’s inspiration. “It’s kind of strangely beautiful, and there’s chemtrails, and things are kind of pink. There are moments that we feel are one in a million, and sometimes they are actually just a gas station at dusk.”

I told her it reminded me of the the-european-mind-could-never-comprehend-this meme.

“Yes!” she exclaimed.

Wedl’s album is wonderfully American at a time when it’s both challenging and necessary to remember what we love about this country.

The hybridity of the record really is the key to its brilliance – there’s classic country songwriting in tracks like “Just Another Daddy Who Did Me Wrong” and the presence of ’90s rock in songs like “I Know How This Goes.” In “Scorpio,” you can hear parallels to Sheryl Crow and Hole, artists we might not necessarily associate with one another, but whose influences sit naturally side by side in Wedl’s music. Despite the contrasts, the transitions are smooth, as beautifully familiar as the reassuring neon light of an Exxon station in the middle of a road trip and as fresh as an Arizona iced tea sipped on the freeway.

The album features several re-recorded songs from past independent releases, including my personal favorite, “I Wanna Be Your TV,” first released on her 2021 EP, Sleeping With Jeans On. It’s the track that drew me into her solo work, after devoutly listening to her earlier grunge band, Dazey and the Scouts. I’ve placed “I Wanna Be Your TV” on multiple playlists I’ve made for crushes, ever since I first found the song. “I even wanna be your ceiling, look right up and I’ll be found/You know I’ll always be around,” Wedl sings with the rasp of Courtney Love and the twang of Patsy Cline. Those playlists didn’t lead to lasting partnerships for me, but Wedl did rightfully gain some new fans. Other re-recordings include “Scorpio” and “Two Dollar Pistol.”

That the album is self-titled seems like the right way to honor the slow burn of Wedl’s journey across many years and many studio sessions. “I toured a lot with my band over the last few years. The reality is that we were playing shows, and it was like we were releasing the album every night,” she described. “So, to have it all recorded now, it’s just a personal reminder that patience is a virtue. You can’t force things. Sometimes they’re ooey and gooey if we don’t let them cook long enough. So, it took a while in the kitchen, but it’s delicious.”

How does Wedl stay a believer in music when every year artists seem to encounter new challenges – from low-paying streaming economies to AI-generated music?

“Honestly, the first thing that comes to mind is giving music lessons to children,” she said. “If there is a moment where I’m just sitting down with a guitar with someone else who is just starting out, and I get to see someone light up when something clicks. Or hearing about a band a young person is super obsessed with and moved by. That inspires me.”

She paused before giving her final piece of advice to songwriters: “I think, just stay curious about music. Stay curious about your gut feelings. In a time when we’re being sold a lot of ideas and being told a lot of narratives, let’s trust our guts, and write down our thoughts, and continue playing the music.”

Brennan Wedl is touring coast to coast this October with Snail Mail, Georgia Mac, Soccer Mommy, and others. Tickets are available on her website.

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