Nashville quintet Wild Cub love a good Top 40 co-sign, from covering Beyoncé and Drake to remixing Bleachers’ “I Wanna Get Better.” Flavorwire is pleased to premiere the latter, which turns Jack Antonoff’s high-voltage depression anthem into an ambient jam that perfectly echoes the song’s vulnerable lyrics.
“When I first heard this track, the vocals and lyrics jumped out to me above everything else,” Wild Cub singer/guitarist Keegan DeWitt says. “The words and the delivery had this immediacy… this desperation… trying to reach someone just out of reach. It really struck me. Once we teamed up for this tour, I reached out because I felt like I heard something in the track that I wanted to dig towards.”
“I started to play with some new chords beneath his vocal and that shifted it for me, it shined some light onto a really interesting tone of vulnerability. The original track is really assured sonically, really strong and upfront. I liked how the new chords took Jack’s amazing vocals and melodies and just made them feel sad… sort of desperate… but delicately hopeful. It was a moment I’ve had before - you meet someone new and want to truly be better for them. There’s no quick way to show them, it’s not easy, it’s just out of reach, but it’s an incredible feeling.”
As DeWitt mentioned, Wild Cub and Bleachers will hit the road together this summer and fall (tour dates here). The match-up feels spot-on, as both alt-radio favorites continue to promote their debut albums of infectious electro-pop. Wild Cub’s Youth, featuring their breakout single “Thunder Clatter,” was released earlier this year on Mom+Pop, while Bleachers’ Strange Desire is out this week on RCA.