Winnow’s ‘Light the Match’ Is Aflame with Gritty Roots Rock (album stream) (premiere)

When Joey Frendo and Jared Meeuwenberg first began making music together, it was as two-thirds of the folk trio, Watching For Foxes. Since their 2014 inception, the band underwent a multitude of transitions, at one point becoming a broad folk-rock septet around the release of 2016’s Undone Bird. Following the death of Tom Petty, they released an impassioned cover of “I Won’t Back Down” before fading out. Needing time to rest and regroup, Frendo and Meeuwenberg bided their time before officially announcing Winnow in late 2018.

The product of two long-time collaborators and friends who’ve put in their dues time and again, Winnow’s debut EP, Light the Match, takes a hard-rocking turn. Increasingly more resonant than their previous songs, Light the Match establishes early on that Frendo and Meeuwenberg have unearthed their rawest sense of artistic identity. Across six tracks, Winnow surges electricity through their established Americana backbone, writing unfeigned poetry against a rugged backdrop. Somewhere nestled between Dawes and the Raconteurs, Winnow is at their best writing and performing fiery roots-rock anthems that work as well live as on a record.

Winnow says that “Light the Match is a rock ‘n’ roll record because that’s what it had to be. We always do our best to serve the song first and foremost. We felt like the stories that we tried to capture and convey on this EP needed loud guitars and a raw quality that reflected the chaos, tension, and release that the narrative follows. Ultimately, we want to explore and record a bunch of different types of music. But this format feels really good right now and we are proud of what we were able to get done. It feels like the best, most cohesive set of songs that we’ve released up to this point and a great launching point.”

Light the Match is available to download or stream today.