Stereo Six: The Collection’s David Wimbish Runs Through His Favourite Records

Like all great bands and artists are capable of doing, The Collection has reinvented their sound for their latest work. We are just a few days away from releasing their new record, Little Deaths, on August 9th via Nettwerk Records. There was a lot of looking inward for frontman David Wimbish during the recording of this album. The pandemic and associated lockdowns were hard on most, but it was a time of change and evolution for Wimbish. He decided it was time to get sober, but such a process does not come without challenges. The songs on the album explore the pain, joy, and acceptance of this time of growth. Musically, Wimbish also challenged himself by using as many unconventional instruments as he could. He utilized duct-taped pianos, rubber-bridged guitars, and other gear that you wouldn’t typically use. It all lent the songs great uniqueness and character.

The vulnerability present in Little Deaths stands in stark contrast to The Collection’s previous work, which leaned more on the triumphant side. When Wimbish achieved sobriety, he was feeling very vulnerable, which influenced his songwriting. He had been drinking a lot and isolating himself and realized he had lost his way. The band’s new single “The Come Down” focuses on moving through different waves of depression and mania, navigating the highs and the lows, and finding a way to establish some stability.

To mark the release of Little Deaths, Wimbish joins us today for a Stereo Six, running down six records that have shaped him as an artist.

1. Bright Eyes – Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002, Saddle Creek)

“Many artists have been named ‘The New Bob Dylan,’ but few have earned it to the degree of Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst. His ability to turn a phrase, to use metaphor and simile, and to get to the emotional core of humanity feels almost completely unparalleled to me. Bright Eyes re-invented themselves in almost every album, and Lifted was the first to pull in country undertones that provided a more intentional canvas for lyrical maturation.

“From songs with orchestral string quartets to dark synth and Rhodes ballads, Lifted taught me that, if the songwriting and voice remain consistent, the arrangement can vary wildly in whatever way enhances the lyrics the best.”

2. Anathallo – Floating World (2006, Artist Friendship)

“From my youngest musical years, I felt hungry for sounds beyond the typical drums/bass/guitar rock radio band. The vision of Anathallo’s nine members rushing between Taiko drums and flugelhorns scratched every big-band itch of my youth. I was desperate to imitate Matt Joynt’s rhythmic falsetto, one that sounded as strong and powerful as his regular voice. Anathallo became the early model for my own projects – the spectacle, the harmonies, the horns, so much so that my original connection to our now-bassist Hayden, and our guitarist Joshua, was them hearing my early bands and thinking, ‘This reminds me of Anathallo.’

“It’s no wonder, melodically, that one of their members went on to co-found the band fun. who also had a major influence on me. Floating World is not an immediate pop-melody album; it takes some intentionality, but it is a musical landscape, and I think everyone should be buried beneath it.”

Artwork for the albums The Collection lists in this Stereo Six

3. Coldplay – Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008, Parlophone, Capital)

“Though I wanted to come across as the hip, underground music lover, I found myself sitting by my boombox, waiting for each catchy, melodic pop song to grace the radio, hoping I could hit ‘record’ onto a cassette before I missed the intro. I started to find a pattern in which songs I captured to my personal tapes: a large percentage of them were by the band Coldplay.

“Chris Martin’s voice strikes an emotional chord deep into my heart, and, especially on Viva La Vida, the band showcased their ability to be infinitely musically creative and fresh while still turning out giant pop anthems that anyone in a stadium will sing along to. There’s a reason a song like ‘Viva La Vida’ hasn’t faded from our cultural attention, despite it being a string quartet playing a song about the French Revolution. Chris Martin is a melodic genius. To this day, I think at least 75 percent of my melodic inclinations came from my deep and continuous love of Coldplay.”

4. Leif Vollebekk – Twin Solitude (2017, Secret City Records)

“When we were about to release our first record, Ars Moriendi, we hired a publicist who said, ‘I’m working with this new guy, Leif Vollebekk, you have to check him out.’ He’d just released North Americana and I fell in love. But it wasn’t until Twin Solitude that I felt like Leif’s voice and words felt more inside my head than my own thoughts. It’s like the tone of his voice is the key that unlocks every emotion I’ve ever felt, and the stream-of-consciousness lyrics feel like my own subconscious.

“The grooves on the first half of the record greatly influenced my songwriting for the next many years after Twin Solitude was released. ‘Elegy’ might be my favourite song ever written and recorded by anyone. Though I may love his next record even more than this, Twin Solitude will always be a turning point for me in music, from thinking about melody and lyric to thinking about groove and emotion.”

5. Jack Garratt – Love, Death & Dancing (2020, Island)

“My first listen to ‘Mara’ was a revelation. It was everything I liked in a song; energy, powerful lyrics, melody harmony, horns, synth, drums, dancing, and dynamics. I knew from that moment that Love, Death & Dancing would become one of my most listened-to albums of all time, and it has proved to be true. The way Jack tackles themes around depression, self-sabotage, fear of abandonment, substance, and hope has been a lifeline for me through difficult seasons, and this album has echoed my entire mental journey through the last several years.

“And, Jack plays almost everything on the album, from insanely fun trombone sections to ’80s guitar solo vibes. These songs are so catchy, and yet, many of them, instead of cutting them down into three-minute radio edits, have long club-dance outros, bringing hope into the heavy lyrics. I truly think this is one of the most musically genius albums I’ve ever heard. It will forever sit at the top of my most-listened to Tylerms.”

The Collection ‘The Come Down’ album artwork

6. Tyler Childers – Purgatory (2017, Hickman Holler)

“I’d dabbled in country for a while, with the likes of old Johnny Cash, Sturgill Simpson, and Jason Isbell. But one Colorado night, cooking dinner with my brother, the rough and rowdy Tyler Childers leapt from the radio into my ears, and changed my life forever. Purgatory sounds so raw, like the band is in the room with you, and Tyler uses his Appalachian croon to dissect reincarnation, the struggles of the lower class, and being in love.

“The sound and lyrics of this record opened up a whole world of music and songwriting for me, a growing interest in country and songs that express the plight of the lower class in this country. Tyler Childers has the most perfect and emotional voice to communicate it with. ‘Universal Sound’ is a true standout – a sort of country Taoist song that lives on my meditation playlist.”