Anand Wilder

Anand Wilder, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, first rose to prominence as co-founder of the shape-shifting experimental indie rockers Yeasayer, which he launched in 2006 with his longtime friend and creative co-conspirator Chris Keating. Around 2008 he began developing new material alongside fellow multi-instrumentalist Maxwell Kardon, and the pair continued recording together for several years with additional notable guest performers. Their efforts produced Break Line, an ambitious, full-blown rock musical about a Pennsylvania coal town that featured guest spots from members of Yeasayer, MGMT, Dirty Projectors, and Vampire Weekend; the album appeared on Secretly Canadian in the summer of 2014. Yeasayer’s decision to call it quits in 2019 left Wilder at a crossroads. Confined by the COVID-19 pandemic alongside everyone else, he started writing songs that turned away from the looping electronic vistas of his flagship band in favor of a more grounded sound. Performing every part himself, he drew inspiration from the music of his youth, citing artists like Fairport Convention, Cat Stevens, the Beatles, and Donovan as sonic lynchpins. The resulting I Don't Know My Words, his debut solo effort, was released in 2022 by Last Gang Records.