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Oct 07, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Jade Wilson

Wye Oak (Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack) are releasing Civilian + Cut All the Wires: 2009–2011, a new 10th anniversary reissue of their 2011 album Civilian plus a 12-song collection of rare and unreleased songs from the era, on October 22 via Merge. Now they have shared another of those bonus tracks, the previously unreleased song “Half a Double Man.” Listen below.

The always prolific Wye Oak have been particularly active of late. Just yesterday Wasner shared “Through Me,” a new song with her Flock of Dimes solo project released via the Adult Swim Singles series. Then just last week Wye Oak teamed up with San Fermin for the new song “My First Life.”

Wasner had this to say about “Half a Double Man” in a press release: “I think this song is about (it was over 10 years ago, after all) coming to the realization that you can never fully satisfy all the parts of yourself simultaneously, especially when they are at odds with one another. The best you can hope for is some sort of half-reconciliation, a truce that exists in that place of: not everything, but just enough.”

Previously Wye Oak shared another bonus track from the album, the previously unreleased song “Electricity,” which was recorded but never mixed (until now). “Electricity” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared another of those bonus tracks, “Holy Holy (Demo),” which is a demo version of one of the album’s main tracks.

In June Wye Oak shared a brand new song not connected to the reissue, “Its Way With Me,” via a video for the track, which ended up on former President Barack Obama’s summer playlist. In May the band released another new song, “TNT,” which was one of our Songs of the Week.

While Wye Oak released their last album, The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs, back in April 2018 via Merge, they have still been quite busy in last three years. Wye Oak released a new EP, No Horizon, in July 2020 via Merge. Stream it here and read our review of it here. The entire EP featured the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Previously the band has shared three songs from the EP: “AEIO” was our #1 Song of the Week, “No Place” (which also made our Songs of the Week list), and “Spitting Image.” When it was released, the EP’s “Sky Witness” also made our Songs of the Week list.

Prior, to the announcement of the EP, the band had released quite a few other singles in 2019 and 2020 not featured on No Horizon. The standalone single “Walk Soft” also made our Songs of the Week list and another standalone single, “Fortune,” was our #1 on that week’s Songs of the Week list. “Fear of Heights” was another #1 on that week’s Songs of the Week list. “Evergreen” was also shared in 2019 via the Adult Swim Singles series (it was again one of our Songs of the Week). In 2020 Wye Oak also put out JOIN, a new mini documentary highlighting the history of the band.

In June 2020 Wasner surprise-released Like So Much Desire, a new EP with her Flock of Dimes solo project. It was her first release for Sub Pop and the title track made our Songs of the Week list. Then Flock of Dimes released a new album, Head of Roses, in April via Sub Pop. Stream it here, read our review of it here, and read our recent The End interview with Wasner about endings and death here. Previously shared songs from Head of Roses are “Two” (which was one of our Songs of the Week), “Price of Blue” (which was also one of our Songs of the Week), “Hard Way” (which was also featured as one of our Songs of the Week), and “One More Hour” (once again one of our Songs of the Week).

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