THE KING
OF PARTY RISES —
ANDREW W.K.’S
“YOU’RE NOT ALONE”
WILL WARM
THE COLDEST HEART
BY JAIME DEJESUS Time is relative. Sometimes a decade feels like yesterday, other times
an eternity.
For any fan of Andrew W.K., aka Wilkes-Krier, 12 years felt an
eternity. It was that long since he released a ‘proper’ album.
The experimental, underappreciated “Close Calls with Brick
Walls” was released in Asia in 2006 before it came to the states years
later. It was a bit of a departure from his previous, and better known, records,
“I Get Wet” and “The Wolf,” but the theme, the man and party were still there,
improved in many aspects, especially lyrically.
W.K. didn’t just rest on his party laurels. He hosted a show on Cartoon
Network (some fans were introduced to him through the show, making this
writer feel a bit old), hosted shows, held motivational speaking tours, written
advice columns for high quality publications, produced music, etc. His
horizons are as broad as a person’s can be and he has kept super busy even if
you haven’t heard him on the radio.
As great as it was to see the King of Party branch out, fans thirsted for
another full-length album. Given the current nature of the music industry,
perhaps the tricky nature of it kept him from continuing the musical party and
led him to look for better avenues for him and his fans.
Thanks to signing a deal with Sony Music and years of writing and recording,
we’ve finally received the fantastic fourth full LP effort from W.K. And the title
says it all. “You’re Not Alone,” is a big audio bear hug in its simplest form and
an album that can inspire you to accomplish wonders at its best.
QNS.COM
SPRING 2018 29