PREMIERE | MAN LEE, "Wind"

Whisked away by the wind with Tim & Sam of MAN LEE; photographed by Tayler Smith.

No matter the direction of the breeze, the unrelenting elements of nature and all their shifting patterns interact with our modern phases and places. The steady and stirring drum beats of time march their ways through the maelstrom of snow, rain, sleet, and sun as the might of nature flexes its omnipotent powers through disastrous displays of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, atmospheric rivers, and other such astounding acts. The places that offer us shelter and a sense of security are not impervious to these magnitudes of mayhem displayed by the civic, social, and physical earth sciences as our material world is beholden to the uncompromising powers that can strip away a roof from its structure just as the governance and policies of oligarchs can impede, and deeply impact our quality of life and pursuits of happiness.

Wrapping up these concepts and more in a whirl of thought and sound is MAN LEE with the debut of “Wind”. The Brooklyn based duo of Sam Reichman and Tim Lee follow up their recent treatise on the modern malaise “Celery” with musings on nature, the meanings we apply to the spaces that strike our interests, the magnitude of the world through the lens of memory and so much more. Working in conjunction with producer Arthur Moon, “Wind” breezes through the remnants of places we have known while traversing through the annals of time to the modern day states of longing, desires, wants, and needs. Featured off the upcoming debut album Hefty Wimpy arriving March 7, Reichman & Lee make music for today’s dreamers that yearn dearly for something outside the tired regiments and indoctrinated routines that are suited to serve the status quo of late capitalism’s mechanically engineered orchestrations (and functions).

“Wind” floats along the landscapes of the heartlands, delivering a bird's eye view of histories and reflective observations. MAN LEE whooshes through recounted histories delivered by Sam in calm and cool recitations that move on to big displays of production that exhibit unsettled malcontent in the song's geography that moves through the Carolinas, Virginias, Baltimore, to Brooklyn, and beyond. "Wind" blends the quiet and loud in a formula of thesis to antithesis that plays out musically in an enrapturing display of percussive steps that builds toward a towering crescendo of explosive instrumental components.

Complimented by curious visuals of microscopy by Marinus Pieter Filbri, MAN LEE’s stream of consciousness style is seen and heard like slides of matter placed under the scope and magnified hundreds, to thousands of times over to gain better perspectives. “Wind” graces through the lenses of the mind’s eye to find new points of purpose from the previous worlds we have inhabited to the new worlds and endeavors we are embarking upon. Sam and Tim move through the skies of nostalgia toward the choppy turbulence of contemporary discontent and discomfort. “Wind” is an exercise in reviewing the things we already know, what new knowledge can be imparted, everything we want out of life, and gaining the understanding of everything we do not want that serves no constructive purpose. MAN LEE makes music on a quest for the things in life that are more substantial than the close minded quagmires and near-sighted cycles that prevent us from moving past the gratuitously rigorous routines that keep us in a holding pattern patented by someone else’s lackluster design.

Postulating on the praxis of pop at the playground with MAN LEE’s (from right), Sam & Tim; photographed by Tayler Smith.

The MAN LEE duo offered their thoughts on the conceptualization and creation of “Wind”:

Sam Reichman

I borrowed the opening line from my dear friend and poet Emma Aylor:

‘Wind peels back the tin roof of the barn,’ (Close Red Water, 2024).

This imagery transported me to the ruins of places I’d filled with meaning when we lived in Virginia—an ancient barn, an abandoned sewing factory, a friend’s rickety car hurling down the Blue Ridge Parkway—and the enormity of that feeling. Everything felt so big back then, because it was at the time. And I think diminishing that is unfair to our past selves. I’d rather live in it.

Cover art for MAN LEE’s new single “Wind”.

Tim Lee

“Wind” went through so many iterations. The process of making it felt a bit like growing up again, and that vulnerability really comes through sonically. I felt it most in the way that we let our collaborators in on this song.

MAN LEE’s debut album Hefty Wimpy will be available March 7.