• Source: The Normal Album

The Normal Album is the third studio album by American musician Will Wood, released on July 10, 2020, by Say-10 Records. It was produced by Jonathon Maisto, who also produced his first album, Everything is a Lot. The album was financed in part by a crowdfunding campaign, which met its goal in its first day.




Background


In 2016, Will Wood began receiving treatment for Bipolar II disorder. This improved his mental state, leading to him approaching his songwriting differently with inspiration from it. While developing his third album, Wood began adapting a different mindset from his previous projects. Citing maturity, a stronger skillset, and funding as reasons, he undertook new methods of writing and composing, focusing on the theme of conformity.
The album's songs were primarily written on piano, with these recordings receiving adaptations from Wood's band. In an interview with Bleeding Cool, Wood cited Green Day as his largest melodic influence. He additionally stated an intention to move into folk music after The Normal Album, which would become "In case I make it," (2022). The album was partly financed by a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, as well as by subscribers to Will Wood's Patreon page. The Indiegogo campaign reached its funding goal within a day of its launch, going on to raise nearly $28,000.




Cover artwork


The cover artwork of The Normal Album shows Will Wood wearing a muted outfit with a pink shirt, patterned tie, and a solid black suit and pants. He appears standing at a window with black shutters on a white house, with his eyes slightly enlarged through Adobe Photoshop. This photo was taken by Angelica Pasquali, while the house was picked out by Wood with Mike Diebold. Various poses were photographed, with the final choice being of Wood waving out from the window. Wood edited this image's contrast, making it pale while surrounding it by a dark retro-pattern border with crumbled text. This stylistic choice is intended to translate Wood's sense of humor, self-describing the album art as "a piece of black comedy".




Release


"Love, Me Normally" was released as the album's lead single on May 29, 2020, with a music video being published on the same day. The song was described by Wood as a "50's doo-wop 80's power ballad", with production by Matt Squire. The rest of the album was produced by Jonathan Maisto, including the following single and music video "Laplace's Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!)" on June 12. For the video, collector Cole Mozelesky legally provided Wood with real human remains, which were then animated with stop motion. The song itself incorporates avant-pop and jazz, relying on guitar and brass instrumentation.
The third and final single was "...Well, Better Than the Alternative", released on June 26. Its accompanying music video was animated by Patreon member Sorin Michaels with EBsynth, editing live footage of Wood. The album was released on July 10, 2020, through Say-10. The label distributed it digitally and physically on CD, cassette, and vinyl. Two weeks later, Will Wood published a video for "2econd 2ight 2eer (That Was Fun, Goodbye.)". In it, visual effects artist Terrence Holleran utilizes visual feedback between a camcorder, television, videocassette recorder, and TV studio control board to create analog distortion.
On August 18, "Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, but I Need You to Leave" received a lyric video created by Angelica Pasquali, featuring varied imagery with a scientific focus alongside visual representations of the lyrics. On September 5, an in-studio live recording was released for the song, filmed in black-and-white at GD PonderRosa Studios in Lafayette, New Jersey. This was followed by a live recording of "BlackBoxWarrior – OKULTRA" five days later. The latter performance turns the song's bridge monologue into a spoken word interlude, with Wood speaking it through an old landline telephone.




Reception


Jordan Blum of PopMatters wrote that The Normal Album "explores themes of normality, identity, morality, and other psychological traits", and called it "a thrilling mix of genres"; Blum highlighted the song "BlackBoxWarrior – OKULTRA" as being "a great glimpse into Wood's bold and brilliant aesthetic". Bleeding Cool's Joshua Nelson additionally gave the album a positive review, noting the "sardonic bite" and varying moods of its tracks.




Track listing






The New Normal!



In 2024, Wood announced that a new mix of The Normal Album was in production. On July 26, a 2018 demo of "I / Me / Myself" became its lead single. It was then followed by 2018 demos of "Laplace's Angel" and "Memento Mori".
On August 9, The New Normal! (The Normal Album 2024 Edit) was released to streaming services, featuring the three demos and new mixes of The Normal Album. However, "Love, Me Normally" remains unaltered due to being mastered by Matt Squire rather than Jonathon Maisto, preventing Wood from mixing it for "contractual reasons".




= Track listing

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Personnel


Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

Musicians

Technical




References

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