WANDERKID is the sophomore album from New York’s next lo-fi legend JW Francis, and in an appropriately maverick move, will be released whilst its creator is in the middle of trekking 2000 miles along the Appalachian Trail in the US. The follow-up to JW’s critically acclaimed debut album We Share A Similar Joy, WANDERKID will be released on October 1 by Sunday Best Recordings (The Cure, David Lynch, dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip, etc). Shortly after this, JW is set to leave the mountains of the Eastern United States and make his way over to New York for a show at Elsewhere on October 8 before heading to the UK for his first ever headline shows there. 

 
His new single “John Take Me With You” also has its accompanying video out now. Wistful, upbeat and bursting with charisma, it is quintessential JW and sets the tone perfectly for an album that tells the story of a wandering anti-hero, as JW elaborates, “WANDERKID is an album about escape. It’s supposed to be a gut punch of a record about an anti-hero named WANDERKID who wants to get OUT: out of his living situation, out of his head, out of his life. This album is like looking out the car window with an urgent desire to be on the other side. It was finished during the most recent global pandemic, so hopefully folks find it relatable.”  
 
JW is fast making a name for himself as one of the most exciting new artists around. Born in Oklahoma, JW landed in New York City at 19 to study Economics at Columbia University, but not before making stops, stays and stints in Vermont, aged 12 and Paris, aged 13. Whilst at Columbia, the troubadour started music blog Rare Candy and founded student-run recording studio CU Records. Musically, JW takes his lead from the greats of the Downtown scene – Patti Smith, The Velvet Underground, Television, Talking Heads, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs – and is fast emerging at the forefront of the next generation of New York greats.

Photo Courtesy: Sara Laufer