For nearly 30 years, the Cincinnati musician Yoni Wolf has been making music under the name WHY? — first as an abstract rap traveler and Anticon co-founder, then as the leader of an always-evolving indie rock band. WHY?'s most recent album was The Well I Fell Into, a 2024 account of a devastating breakup. This fall, Wolf will follow it with Oh Golly / Yes Lord, a new LP about living a middle-aged life in the aftermath of that breakup.
In a press release, Wolf says that Oh Golly / Yes Lord is about things like "trying to date again, living on the internet, this pathetic, solitary life." He recorded the album with the Weeknd/Shawn Mendes producer Nate Mercereau and with his brother and longtime collaborator Josiah, with contributions from people like Fog's Andrew Broder and Gayngs' Ryan Olson. Today, Wolf shares the album's lead single and closing track "In Spirit," one of a few album songs where Wolf plays all the instruments himself. It's a playful lo-fi ballad that's heavy on lyrical pathos: "Ohio hike, you said you’d like platonic/ Was that just to hide what you really wanted?"
In a press release, Wolf says:
"In Spirit" is a romantic overture for someone I had never met in person. I’d call it a harmless, securely attached gesture of longing from a distance. It’s me going out on a limb without expectations, feeling like even if I never meet this person in real life, we are already connected in some alternate universe or on some other plane of existence. And that’s beautiful. That’s enough.
Check out "In Spirit" and the Oh Golly / Yes Lord tracklist below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Sin Lite"
02 "What A Punim"
03 "Hare"
04 "Pretend So Real"
05 "Not Really A Stranger"
06 "Chaos Theory"
07 "Shine"
08 "Parks Tour"
09 "Story Of My Life"
10 "Décembre 16th"
11 "In Spirit"
Oh Golly / Yes Lord is out 10/30 on Waterlines. Pre-order it here.
