Kevin Whelan of The Wrens has formed a new band called Aeon Station. The group will release their debut album Observatory on December 10.
Observatory is a 10-track record, consisting of over 14 years worth of demos and sketches from Whelan. The album is now available for preorder on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop.
Though this isn’t a Wrens album, which is what many of their extremely patient fans had hoped for, it’s certainly a great consolation prize.
Largely assembled and recorded by Whelan himself, Aeon Station is composed of Wren bandmates Jerry MacDonald and Greg Whelan, and musicians Tom Beaujour and his wife Mary Ann.
Aeon Station released their debut single “Queens,” filled with bashing drums and monster guitars.
“This song was inspired by one of my all-time favorite songs, ‘The Winner Takes it All’ by ABBA,” Whalen said. “It’s about betting on the real you. Like a game of high-stakes poker, you push all your chips to the center of the table and aren’t afraid to go ‘all in.’ It starts with a solo vocal, framing the story to come, the drums then propel the song forward, with a force working its way to a climax of a repeating line—’You said it was all in.’”
As Whelan said in a New York Times interview on Monday, five of the songs on the album were written for the Wrens album.
Listen to “Queens” below:
Observatory Tracklisting
Hold On
Leaves
Fade
Everything at Once
Move
Queens
Empty Rooms
Air
Better Love
Alpine Drive
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