Olivia Wendel’s debut album Windthrow poses questions about personal growth infused with a folk-pop style.
In her first album, Windthrow, Olivia Wendel pays homage to her roots as she tells stories from her own experiences and questions the road that lies ahead. Wendel has described Windthrow as “unveiling the chaotic nature of being uprooted as she enters adulthood.” Hailing from Massachusetts, Wendel has now established herself in New York. She recently returned to Boston, performing in collaboration with Sofar, as well as at Atwood’s Tavern and Bellforge Arts Center in April. The album’s themes and sound are reminiscent of Maggie Rogers and Alice Phoebe Lou, showcasing a strong folk-pop sensibility.
The gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar, drive of pop drums, and lively basslines that feature on Windthrow initially stand out, creating a light and sunny soundscape. However, upon further examination, her lyrics are rather mournful. Wendel iterates that she feels lost and is searching for something, or someone, in several of her songs.
Wendel’s delivery is story-like in nature. If each song is a story, she moves through the piece almost linearly. She herself is centered in her songs, and accordingly identifies exposition, setting, and conflict. Yet, many of them lack a clear resolution, and listeners are left with an existential question to consider. Some recurring themes throughout Windthrow are the passage of time and nature: the forest floor, the wind, the earth.
Wendel’s first track “Skipping Stones” sets the stage with lyrics of farewell: “You say you’re not coming home / You’ve got dreams of moving to the coast / I’m sitting here wondering / Is this how things go?” Whoever her song is addressed to has moved on, abandoning her even. In the final choruses of the song, she repeats, over and over, “How far can you throw a heart made from stone?” as the accompaniment slowly fades out, as if she is calling out to whoever left her, asking them the reason why they would do so.
Throughout the album, the imagery of wind sweeps through several of the songs, suggesting that Wendel is as tied down to her walk of life as a leaf in the wind is. In “Portland,” she sings in dulcet tones, “Left to the city / When the wind was blowing / And there’s pain in not knowing / And there’s beauty in where we’re going.” Wendel believes in the momentum of life. The direction that one heads in may be unpredictable, but the destination will be reached.
“Portland” is followed by “Stop & Shop.” Between these two songs, the tempo of the drums picks up, accompanied by the strum of a guitar and a driving bassline. A sliding guitar harmony floats over the intro and the vocals, delivering the folky nature that is signature to Wendel’s sound. Here, she compares a relationship in her life to a sale item found at a convenience store. They decide to try her out, nonchalantly, because she piques their interest and the stakes are low. She sings: “Just an on sale item / You see on the shelf / You think I’ll try it / What the hell / I’m not losing out.” About halfway through the song, Wendel’s voice is joined by a male voice an octave lower, as if she’s in conversation with the other person in the relationship. The sudden blend of these voices conveys the impulsive nature of this connection, with both sides coming into it without really knowing the other person.
In theme with the struggles of growing up, Wendel ends Windthrown with “Fully Grown.” The momentum she has sonically built up throughout the album culminates in musings of maturity and the strength of her mother. The first few lines of “Fully Grown” present the goals that Wendel has set for herself in the future: “When I’m older / I’m going to have a garden / With flowers and herbs and birds everywhere.” Then she says, as she works, she will think of her mother who “raised a daughter / Who was strong enough to become a gardener.” The themes of the album culminate with this final song, where Olivia Wendel sings to her listeners about how she will work hard to accomplish the goals of cultivation, of both her physical garden as well as her musical career. The title of this piece is also a double entendre: Olivia Wendel will grow and become a gardener, and her plants will grow too. Without care, plants will wither and die, so just as she cares for them, she must care for her dreams.
With Windthrow, Wendel addresses the trials and tribulations of coming to terms with the passage of time. She captures her internal struggles with rhetorical questions that leave listeners wanting closure, using metaphors of nature to drive these themes home. Such questions may seem daunting in the present, yet she knows that they are temporary. Windthrow leaves listeners pondering the trajectories of their own lives, and if they’ll be able to accomplish their goals.