Settling into spring we seek that beloved breath of fresh air. Even amid the unpredictable natural patterns of erratic weather there is a search for the sublime, the genuine, sincere outlets that offer moments of pause and a restorative respite from the grind of tedious routines. Through the incessant deluge of newsletters, seasonal advertisement campaigns, the targeted upsells and press blast extravaganzas, we look for something new. True. Real. A reason to smile. A sign that it might be all right again. A reminder that happiness is possible.

From cables between underground insiders we discovered Salt Lake City, Utah’s upstarts Wishing Well who recently released their full-length Christmas Fall Halloween Halloween in time for the new solstice. Following up their 2020 debut EP my bike, bandleader Cooper Johnson and company present an elaborately executed and polished album that generously expounds upon those initial rough demo sketches. The stunning beauty of this record is that it harkens back to the whirlwind sugar rush feelings from the cult sophisti-pop canons of the Balearic 2000s & 2010s, interjecting an eclectic style of perpetual renewal and myriad musical movements. Christmas Fall Halloween Halloween is the Magical Mystery Tour for the DIY set, a mystical nu-suburban odyssey that has arrived seemingly out of nowhere for the world to witness.

Wishing Well present a record well suited to soundtrack the spring season. The SLC group gives the gift of joyful elation, a cycle of songs that gallantly gallops through the garage and bedroom rock schools and institutions. "Introduction" welcomes the audience with calming chords over tape-recorded recitations, leading to the lavish romanticism of "Zokbar-2" that then slips into heavy churning majesty of the bewildering "black screen ‘i used to want to live in vermont, but then i figured out it rains a lot". The heartfelt "Stripes" rocks dearly in earnest, keeping that affection in motion on the endearing ode to creating with fellow compadres and confidants on the gentle "Crafts with Friends", delving into the melancholic pensive ballad of perseverance, "Blanche". The band continuously entertains new and unique approaches to composition as heard on the eccentric "Gumball Eats Kid" that then kicks into the untethered and exuberant energy of the album's penultimate track "Cats", before you are left on the upbeat note of "Bench (The Happy Medium)" that ponders a chance at romance with the vibe of a serene city park on a sunny day.

Cooper Johnson of Wishing Well provided some exclusive insights on the creative process:

The making of this album has been all of me and my bandmates high school years… we started playing in ninth grade and released it in twelfth, so they’ve been developing for a while.

In the garage of my parents house where we played for a long time, there were four seasonal decoration boxes on a shelf that read; Christmas, fall, Halloween, Halloween…it’s a nice double meaning I think because there is this history but we also just love the seasons and all the inspiration that comes from them.

A third meaning is that of the chaos that the name brings—the album is all over the place, in the best way. So the name and cover just felt right. There’s a lot of emotion and experience and humor tied up in this album, 16 years worth I suppose, if you do the math.

Wishing Well’s Christmas Fall Halloween Halloween is available now.