Isle of Wight's Wet Leg today released their self-titled debut album 'Wet Leg'. Since unleashing their first single in June last year, things have moved at lightning speed for Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers – from selling out all their live shows in minutes, performing on US TV three times, being crowned number 2 in BBC’s Sound of 2022 to racking up 40M global streams and 9M YouTube views as well as been touted, most recently, by Dave Grohl, Lorde and Jack White.
'Wet Leg' was recorded and produced in the main by Speedy Wunderground's Dan Carey ('Chaise Longue' and 'Angelica' were produced by Jon McMullen and Josh Mobaraki respectively). The album was mostly recorded in London, in April 2021, meaning Wet Leg had a finished album before the world had even heard debut single 'Chaise Longue' or played live. "I guess how it happened was unconventional," admits Hester.
Right from the start of Wet Leg, Teasdale and Chambers focus was fun, and a dry sense of humour ripples through the album. "I wanted to write fun songs, I didn't want to indulge sad feelings too much, I wanted to write stuff that's fun to listen to and fun to play,” reveals Rhian. “But then, the sad seeps through, as well."
'Wet Leg' is sad music for party people, and party music for sad people. It is cathartic and joyful and punk and scuzzy and above all, it's fun. "Wet Leg was originally just supposed to be funny," says Rhian. "As a woman, there's so much put on you, in that your only value is how pretty or cool you look. But we want to be goofy and a little bit rude. We want to write songs that people can dance to. And we want people to have a good time, even if that might not possible all of the time."
Collectively, Wet Leg’s previous singles 'Chaise Longue' and 'Wet Dream' have racked up over 8.5 million streams and over 3 million views on YouTube, scored 2 BBC 6 Music A-Lists, seen them appear on Later… with Jools Holland and get crowned one of Vevo DSCVR Artists To Watch 2022 and Amazon Artists To Watch 2022 plus 'Too Late Now' just picked up the accolade of BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record.
Having already sold out their April 2022 UK tour, Wet Leg have confirmed a run of intimate UK regional dates as part of their role as Independent Music Week Ambassadors. The band are also heading to the US next month for their first shows there and have now announced a March 2022 tour for North America before they head back to Europe for their May 2022 run.
Upcoming tourdates in The Netherlands:
Earlier this week, Wet Leg revealed the music video for their single 'Ur Mum'. 'Ur Mum' opens with a spectacular insult lobbed in the direction of an ex-boyfriend: "When I think about what you've become, I feel sorry for your mum" but the song also nods to outgrowing the slow pace of life and small town energy of the island: “When the lights go down on this fucking town, I know it's time to go" and results in Rhian letting out her “longest and loudest scream” for 11.02 seconds. Teasdale says of the song: “I was pretty angry at way things had gone in this particular dynamic. It’s just a diss song I wrote to make myself feel better. It worked.”
The video directed by Lava La Rue who says: “The 'Ur Mum' video was all about bringing the viewer into the Wet Leg world - sprinkling details throughout the visual that not only reference at least 4 songs off the album but also plenty of inside jokes within the band too. Artistically it shows where the aesthetic of American indie films like Napoleon Dynamite fit perfectly in the scape of rural British settings - this concept first came to me when the band took me to IOW for the first time - I saw the connection and it all clicked into place.”
Listen to Wet Leg's self-titled album here.
