WILD LOVE

On June 25, 2021, Spanish For Hitchhiking released their third album, Wild Love. Their last record Night Alerts released in 2015. The album's 2021 release marks the band's 20 year anniversary. From quiet beginnings playing acoustic instruments in Crommett and Germer's downtown Northampton apartment, to countless gigs at boozy rock clubs and beyond, Spanish For Hitchhiking has now been part of the Valley's vibrant music scene for two decades.

The seeds of Wild Love were planted during a conversation between then-trio Crommett, Germer, and Hower at an Easthampton brewery in 2018. "We don't have to do anything," Crommett recalls saying. "So what do we want to do?" What followed were a series of nights improvising and inviting others into the fold in Crommett's basement, which was fully wired to record. The trio introduced elements like drum machines and synths into their practices, which Crommett had used in making two instrumental albums under his own name.

But upon inviting original member Dave Chalfant to a practice, something familiar and yet entirely new clicked into place, and the quartet approached some of Crommett's new songs, written mostly in one flurry of writing in 2018. The result is what this band of veteran musicians present now as Wild Love, an unabashedly emotional, sweeping, and guitar-driven album of 12 songs crafted from nothing in Crommett's basement, where like previous SFH records, each instrument's role and each member's creative voice was equal.

The album was mostly recorded in 2019, masterfully produced by Chalfant at his studio in Northampton. Crommett finished the vocals and guitars at home while under quarantine during COVID-19, setting up a sound booth made of blankets, planks of wood, and an ironing board. In 2021, the album was been expertly mixed and mastered by Chalfant, who also produced the band's previous two records.

Much in keeping with the 15 months of quarantine faced because of the pandemic, solitude and self-reliance are central themes of Wild Love. The first single, "Waves," seeks moments of quiet introspection in a noisy world; "Reservoir Town" looks at a broken heart as it seeks forward motion; title track "Wild Love," which on its first public performance had the audience dancing, draws from Crommett's many solitary walks in the woods, "where I begin;" and the fuzz-soaked guitars of leadoff track "In Stereo" see our introverted protagonist wrestling with the social expectations of well-meaning friends.

Wild Love is available on CD at spanhike.com, and digitally at spanhike.bandcamp.com, and wherever you stream music.

CREDITS

Produced, mixed, and mastered by Dave Chalfant in Northampton, MA
Design by Max Germer
Photography by Joanna Chattman
Guest vocals on #12: Kimberly Logan

Dave Chalfant: Guitars
Dennis Crommett: Vocals, Guitars
Max Germer: Bass
Dave Hower: Drums