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Aug 10, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Sydney Tate

Later this month, Brooklyn indie rock quartet Wetsuit are set to debut their first full-length album, Sugar, I’m Tired, arriving August 17th via Substitute Scene Records. Formed by singer/songwriter and guitarist Allison Becker, the band has its origins as a quarantine bedroom project but has since expanded in size and scope, with Becker joined by guitarist Anders Nils, bassist Paul DeSilva, and drummer Stephen Cadieux.

Together, the band leans into a lush and jangly aesthetic, arriving at the crossroads of surf-tinged indie rock and gauzy dream pop while retaining Becker’s diaristic songwriting voice, never straying too far from the band’s bedroom origins. Ahead of the album’s release the band have already shared a pair of new singles, “Local Celebrity” and “Twiggy,” and today they are back with a third and final single, “Clovers,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Clovers” is a work of winding indie pop bliss, traveling in the same vein as Indigo de Souza or Alvvays. Nils’ guitar lines have an ephemeral, dreamy quality, shining bright amongst the steady sway of the rhythm section. In contrast, Becker’s voice is strong and striking, infusing the track’s quiet moments with wistful longing and its hazy climax with blooms of rippling cathartic weight. It’s a simple combination, but one the band uses to great effect. Meanwhile, Becker’s lyrics are sweet and inviting, finding lovely poeticism in small moments of devotion: “Cover me in roses / Find me when the bar closes / Stitch me back together / Paint me shades of blue.”

Becker says of the track, “‘Clovers’ is a love song. It was Summer 2021 and my partner Anders and I had been living together for about a year. I was feeling so much gratitude and contentment in my life, having built this stable relationship and home together and watching it blossom. Life just felt so cozy and nice like taking a big nap in a field of clovers. I wanted to write a song that wrapped you in gooey, cozy, fuzzy warmth, like pulling you under a blanket of clovers.

With Wetsuit I sought out to prove that you don’t need to be a musical genius to write good songs. My hero Sharon van Etten described writing songs as seeking melodies within chords and once that clicked with me it unlocked a confidence in songwriting I never knew I had. I wrote Clovers with just 2 chords and harnessed that simplicity as a superpower, not a limitation.”

Beckers continues, saying of the video, “Before I started writing music and formed my band, knitting and crocheting was my main creative outlet. It was a huge part of my life. I spent all my free time fulfilling orders from my Etsy shop and making pieces to sell at craft fairs.

‘Clovers’ is all about being comfortable and secure in a relationship for the first time. I knew I wanted to tie in that cozy, squishy soft imagery, and had an idea that I could use crochet dolls to represent my transition from one creative outlet to another, from knitter to musician.

I made the giant hood you see in the video, but crochet dolls are not my specialty. For those, I found this amazing crocheter Jeri Thompson on Etsy. She blew us away and even surprised us by making an entire drum kit without me asking.”

Check out the song and video below, directed by Paul DeSilva. Sugar I’m Tired is out everywhere on August 17th via Substitute Scene Records.