By Sam Andersen
I think I heard about Wilbere (pronounced like the pig from Charlotte’s Web) from my buddies talking about them after their set at last year’s Buzzards and Bees festival. I only heard good things, and after listening to their music, I have nothing bad to say either.
If you could distill the feeling of driving through cozy Salt Lake streets as the sky turns tangerine in the evening, or the feeling you get when you see dust in yellow sunlight that leaks through your closed blinds, you’d get Quiet Eyes. In this disarming debut EP, Wilbere harnesses elements of both indie rock and folk and constructs them into a singing scarecrow that is equal parts honest and cinematic, yet scrumptiously homegrown. If you like bands like Alvvays and Boyscott, you will love this EP.
I got to talk a little bit with frontman Davis McBride, who said that the project has been in the works since the summer of 2022. Just after the full formation of the band in 2023, recording began. Davis and his friend Ethan co-produced the Quiet Eyes EP, recording the bulk of the sounds on the album in their home. In everything from the guitars to vocals, you can hear that homey feeling across the songs.
Davis said that there wasn’t really one central message in particular they were trying to convey on the EP. “As cheesy as it sounds, these songs are mostly about acknowledging that life is not what you thought it would be like before you grew up,” he said. He also mentioned that despite life’s changing expectations, Wilbere hopes to infuse hope and positivity into the lives of those who hear their music.
One thing I think Quiet Eyes does really well is provide solid indie music that creeps out of indie-rock tropes in just the right way. On “Old Blood,” you hear guitars and reverb, but you can also hear the wistful sound of a banjo plucking playfully over the whole track. On “Thirty Pieces,” there is the rare (at least in Utah indie rock) sound of soft brass instruments swelling up to support cutting lyrical lines like “hands of blood don’t take me.” Pretty much every track has these unique little sonic nuggets that seem to magically appear with every listen.
My favorite song from the tracks on Quiet Eyes has got to be “Unjust.” The contrast between the shy acoustic guitar in the verse and the roaring (almost wailing) guitars in the chorus gets better every time you hear it. If you like quiet bangers a bit more, then I highly recommend “Thirty Pieces.” No matter what speaks to you, I’m personally very excited to see what this band cooks up next, and you should be too.
Make sure to follow Wilbere on Instagram. You can listen to “Unjust” below!
Provo Music Magazine 