Great American rock band Wussy have a new album on the way. The main band will return in November from a six-year hiatus with the aptly named Cincinnati Ohio, their first LP since the death of guitarist John Erhardt. Opening track “The Great Divide” is out today, a droning and propulsive heartland rocker that sounds like waking up from Lost In A Dream.

Wussy’s Lisa Walker had this to say:

Lyrically, I struggled for a while to get this one right. It’s a study on the minutiae of loss. The things we leave behind.. the ways in which we live on, and maybe even reveal ourselves to others, after we’re gone. How something so simple and small – like an old hard drive or guitar cable – can mean so much. Realizing in one crystal moment that this thing you borrowed from someone can’t be returned, because they’re not here anymore. Creating this was part of a grieving process that I’m not – we’re not – entirely finished with, but I think working on this song helped.

Most of the tracks for this new record were written a few years back, prior to the start of recording. But “The Great Divide” is one of the exceptions. I had the melody and chord progression as far back as 2019, but hadn’t written anything to it yet. Near the end of our studio sessions for this new record, I was finally able to put the right words to it, and I texted the band a demo. I thought at best, it could be an acoustic closer or maybe go onto a future album. But Joe [Klug] really championed it, and was willing to set up his drums at The Lodge all over again just to record this song with the full Wussy force. If not for the band and John Hoffman being willing to make that extra effort, this song wouldn’t exist in this format.

On the same day Cincinnati Ohio drops, Wussy will release two EPs, The Great Divide and Cellar Door. The latter is credited to Wussy Duo, aka Walker and Chuck Cleaver, and its title track is also out today. (If you didn’t hear Wussy Duo’s recent Bill Fay cover, you should!)

Hear “The Great Divide” and “Cellar Door” below — and actually, it looks like the full The Great Divide EP is streaming today too. A wealth of Wussy!

CINCINNATI OHIO TRACKLIST:
01 “The Great Divide”
02 “The Ghosts Keep Me Alive”
03 “Desperation AM”
04 “Disaster About You”
05 “Sure As The Sun”
06 “Inhaler”
07 “Please Kill Me”
08 “The Night We Missed The Horror Show”
09 “Days And Hours”
10 “Winged”

Cincinnati Ohio plus the EPs The Great Divide and Cellar Door are out 11/15 on Shake It. Pre-order it all at Bandcamp or the label website.