Our recurring feature series Origins provides artists with a platform to explore everything that went into their latest release. Today, Mountains Like Wax break down their newest track, “A Lover’s Plea (Act II)” featuring Julien Baker.
If indie cred took the physical form of, say, gold coins, Mountains Like Wax would put even Scrooge McDuck to shame with their swimming pool of loot. Cutting their teeth playing house shows and taking seven years between their first EP and debut album to hone their songwriting, Mountains Like Wax have been carefully saving up their coins. With the latest single from their upcoming album Before There Was Plenty, they’re finally cashing in.
“A Lover’s Plea (Act II),” steady and contemplative, acts both as a taste of what’s to come and as a reflection of the band’s pre-album journey. A collaboration with fellow Middle Tennessee State University alum Julien Baker, the track carries particular musical importance for Mountains Like Wax.
“It was also really impactful for us to have Julien on a track because it added this full-circle feeling leading up to our debut LP,” the band’s Mitchell Taylor and Sam Katz told Consequence. “She played with us at our very first EP release show for the Tetralogy EP back in 2015 at Mayday Brewery in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and joined us on stage for a few songs.”
Baker’s vocal contributions, though limited to a supporting role in the chorus, cement the song’s emotional strength. No stranger to adding her unique touch to already devastating songs (just ask Phoebe Bridgers or Touché Amoré), Baker accentuates Taylor’s plea as the two cry in unison, “Wrap me up for a minute.”
“Something so pure and captivating about Julien’s voice and writing is the rawness and vulnerability to it all — as we all would literally believe anything that came out of her mouth,” the band said. “And I think that is the main inspiration for the track (and record) in a nutshell — realness in vulnerability.”
The band promises a further exploration of such vulnerability on Before There Was Plenty (due out April 8th), including the implied first act of “A Lovers Plea.” In the meantime, Mountains Like Wax continue to grow their already impressive collection of indie-cred gold coins.
Check out “A Lover’s Plea (Act II)” two days early, exclusively on Consequence, and Mountains Like Wax’s full Origins of the song below.
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