Looking at how they were going about piecing together music, brothers Patrick and Nolan Wheeler found themselves feeling wearisome and a bit apathetic.  So the duo what they felt was right and disbanded their Americana project, Wheeler Brothers, and thrust themselves into new sounds.  Synthesizers were replacing guitars and new voices were being incorporated into the recording process.  Overall, the duo’s latest project LBR DPT (aka Labor Department) was the awakening that was needed.

Today LBR DPT has released the single that can be found on the band’s self-titled debut (out in July), “Ride.”  Pulsating with heavy thumping synth and richly complex vocals, LBR DPT delivers an alluring indie-pop single that undoubtedly forces you to step out and dance without restraint. The single is one that truly fulfills what the brothers were searching for in regards to planting their theoretical flag musically.  “’Ride’ is a song about “switching” power dynamics in a mutually beneficial way based on vibe or circumstance,” the band says.  “We like to tuck personal bits into our songs but not in such an overt way that the listener loses their opportunity to formulate their own meaning from it.”

“The record is special because we started this process as two brothers for ourselves. Now we have many brothers and a few sisters too. We had gone through a band break up, divorce, and then right into a global pandemic,” Patrick Wheeler says about the self-title debut. Those struggles make it extra impressive that the collective emerged with an album as easy and fun as LBR DPT. It’s palpable that this record was made by people who love coming together to make music that brings people together.