Wallows kick off 2025 with “Your New Favorite Song”

Wallows has had the year of a lifetime: 2024 saw the release of their third album, Model, a world tour, a sold out show at MSG – the list goes on. Kicking off the new year, and right in time for the Model & More tour (round two!), the trio dropped “Your New Favorite Song” – one of three exclusive tracks featured on the album’s vinyl release.

Laid-back and mellow, the song is perfect for the slow meandering of January. Ironically enough, on first listen I think that this track could easily fit on their 2018 Spring EP. The drums are crisp, the guitar a little nostalgic, blending seamlessly with bittersweet horns and playful woodwind.

The bridge is arguably the best section (as is the case in many Wallows songs), stripping back the soft instrumental to reveal just how much resentment is imbued in the song. The singer is, as he mentions, using the song as a way to distract from his lost love (“I blocked it out with a song and it went like”), but his claim, “I don’t wanna know,” gets less convincing with each repetition. By the end of the track the singer’s longing is palpable, but so is his indignation – he’s still looking for her in the crowd and he seems to resent himself for it, prompting him to write his ex-lover’s new favorite song so she has to think of him on every listen; it’s a petty attempt to drag her down to his own level. The single reminds me of Wallows’ 2018 single “1980s Horror Film” in its characterization – the band has an excellent way of writing insightful, telling lyrics whilst still managing to be colloquial.

The digital release of “Your New Favorite Song” hopefully means fans will be getting the other two bonus tracks in the near future – 2025 is looking to be just as busy a year for Wallows as the last. Catch them on their upcoming Model & More tour this spring.