Listen to WHY NOT's New Single, "Faded"

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“Faded” is the first self-proclaimed “chill” song by Minneapolis three-piece WHY NOT. In their self-proclaimed “year of reflection,” the group was inspired by Minneapolis basement shows in years past. “The nostalgia of the heat of the room, the blurriness—and how unobtainable that feeling was at the time helped us through the three or four iterations of this song and finally led us to the end product,” Breen explains. 

Upon the cancellation of their March 2020 tour, Henry Breen, Isaac Dell, and Josh MacGregor retreated to Dell’s family cabin in Viroqua, Wisconsin for a week-long writing retreat. As the uncertainty grew and eventually led to a pause on all band activities, the music industry was forced into a world with no live shows—the worst case scenario for the trio who thrived on the reciprocal energy of their audiences.

The shutdown compelled a reckoning on the future sound of the group. Throughout the year, the math rock and hardcore origins of the band made way for acoustic guitars, warm synths, and electronic production. Through their own summer of constant writing along with the help of producer Caleb Hinz (Hippo Campus, Samia, Miloe), the group meandered into a new sound—one they said would not have emerged without the pause of the pandemic. 

As processed guitars fall into a soundscape of warm pads and shakers, “Faded” invokes hazy memories of a late-night campfire—where music washes over the presence of good company and smoky skies.