Wet Denim — hailing from Wellington, New Zealand, this four-piece rock act infused with pop sensibilities are your next favorite band. Their music is richly textured with swelling melodies accompanied by dynamic guitar and bass and punctuated with percussion that strikes the balance between hard-hitting and extremely catchy. Composed of frontman Nick Goodwin, guitarist and keyboardist Luca Crampton and brothers Joe and Jack Ledword on bass and drums respectively. This musical identity is perhaps best captured by their latest single ‘The Why’, which dropped on the 30th of August ahead of their upcoming EP ‘On The Line’.

This second body of work from Wet Denim drops on the 27th of September (mark your calendars) and, informed by my conversation with the band, there’s a lot to be excited about. Luca tells me that “it's a greater reflection of [the band] both as songwriters individually and as a group. It's much more dynamic. We've got pop pop moments. We've got alternative rock kind of thing, moving into folk and then getting some heavier territory and then some kind of more electronic kind of moments in the production”, making it the band’s most “well-rounded” project.

‘On The Line’ also sees the band enter into a new frontier: a tour. Kicking off with a Melbourne show at the Northcote Social Club on the 21st of September, Wet Denim then returns to New Zealand to play six shows across six cities. Should this feat not be impressive enough on its own, it’s also the band’s first run at a live performance of the EP in full. A few of the band’s older songs, such as ‘Again and Again’ and ‘Stuck with You’, have already established themselves as fan favorites at Wet Denim’s live gigs, but the rest of the setlist is entirely new. Guitarist and singer Nick jokes that he’s got no idea what these songs will look like in a live show, particularly the EP’s lead single ‘Want You Here’; “We’ve never really played it live, we haven’t even practiced it yet!”.

The introduction of the new songs to the live set shouldn’t be a problem for these four, as Wet Denim have been praised by Triple J as a “must see live act” in both the local and the national music scene, and having seen them on-stage in rooms both big and small, I have to agree. As such, rather than a series of shows, the ‘On The Line’ tour promises to be an event.

The stage presence of this rock outfit cannot be understated. Even from the back of a packed band room, it is so easy to be sucked into the musical world of Wet Denim. When asked if this was something they were consciously aware of, the band told me that this experience isn’t only felt by the audience, they’re pulling themselves in as well. “I think just what I'm finding at the moment with the shows we've been doing recently there's always a way to get more and immerse and the performance and the more you do it, just the more you get back from it as well and I think that makes the experience of the music really special.”, Nick tells me. Another phrase that might be used to articulate their stage presence is a “primal expression” of their music. Luca, Jack, Nick and Joe all seemed to agree that, in a way, their performance philosophy is fully giving themselves to their music and to the crowds. It's part of the band’s philosophical and introspective nature, which is expected to shine through in ‘On The Line’. Joe teased this thematic aspect in reference to one of the songs on the upcoming EP, which is written in the perspective of each four on the bandmates on how they each relate to a moment in time, allowing the listener a peek behind the curtain into the band’s relationship with each other.

As exciting as the launch of ‘On The Line’ and its tour are, it must be asked what lies in the future for such an exciting act. Rest assured, these four do not plan on slipping into a comfort zone any time soon. Nick reckons that the band’s collective move to Melbourne from Wellington—and subsequently breaking into an entirely new music scene in five months—was an “awesome way of pushing ourselves as performers,” a new experience which was hinted at having influenced the early stages of Wet Denim’s future EP. In light of Nick’s statement, I have to wonder if this notion of constantly wanting to raise the bar becomes limiting? After having been prompted in the interview with Radio Fodder, the band shared their thoughts on my theory; In a sense, Luca agrees, as at some point or other operating with a “perfectionist mindset” can minimize one’s capacity to continue to create, as “with any art, it's never finished so you have to choose a point to call it the ‘final version’”. Perhaps this is an influence on Wet Denim’s desire to never have an identity that is “set in stone” as Luca put it. Instead, their preference is plain and simple—to make bloody good music.

I personally have high hopes for Wet Denim. There is something very compelling about a band that gives their all to the music on stage and are simultaneously producing truly terrific music that I want to listen to again and again (pun very much intended). You can check out the full and unedited Wet Denim interview here for all the ‘On The Line’ easter eggs, banter and other great stuff that didn’t make its way into the article.

You can get more details on everything Wet Denim here at their website; it's got all the info you could want on the ‘On The Line’ release, the tour and the newly launched merch (which was very kindly modeled by Joe in the Fodder studio). You can also keep up to date with the band’s endeavors via their Instagram.