Wild Belle, the funk-rock concoction of sibling duo Natalie and Elliot Bergman, have built their rising musical career on an ever-changing foundation of influences, sounds, and enigmatic worlds—and the engulfing textures of their third studio album Everybody One Of A Kind is no different. A drifting, passionate mixture of sizzling rock bombast and elusively funky a-la saxophones and beat-mixing—the album is as ferociously concussive in its sonic production as it is in Natalie’s darting lyricism. But it’s the album’s track-turning, excitedly buzzing catalog of range—a showcasing of Wild Belle’s expansive tastes—that makes Everybody One Of A Kind an indubitable peak in their career thus far.
From the moment they re-introduce themselves on “Rocksteady,” a jumpy piece filled with the kind of burnt sax-blisterings that overtake a number of the best melodies on the album, it’s clear that Wild Belle are headed full-throttle towards something outside of themselves. It twists and jerks in all manner of danceable grooves—bleeding gorgeously into “Mockingbird,” another sax-howling, smokey funk tune that curves itself gorgeously around Natalie’s piercing vocals. There’s something so deliciously tropical about those first two songs that really embeds your soul into this sweltering, humid club of funk-rock that the duo seems to transmit all this from. And while that elastic-twist of electricity in their beats courses throughout—their tracks are full of throw-a-cinderblock-on-the-brakes right-turns that it never feels overdone.
“Tumbleweed,” a slow-burner ballad given in Natalie’s red-velvet croons, tackles a hoarse intimacy in an ever-winding sensuality—before jumping into the M.I.A.-esque track “Have You Both.” Natalie is a bit of a chameleon with her vocals, taking-on a variety of personas and at times seeming unrecognizable between back-to-back tracks—the moody, cruise-through-the-streets “Ferrari” and “Let The Bells Ring” are prime examples. Both are a far-cry from the singed-rock beats that started the album—even though that bristling sax riff raises it’s head again on the former—but the tracks are more tuned to the kind of raw, rap-inflected pop of artists like Kali Uchis. And yet even with these gear shifts Wild Belle hold onto their burgeoning sound—a multi-instrumental-driven, sonically acrobatic undercurrent of funk that utilizes any means necessary to create the kind of atmosphere the duo’s individualistic title-mantra advocates.
Everybody One Of A Kind holds true to that idea—one delivered in heady-repetitions on “It’s Not Time For Your Funeral”—that it’s not quite time to give-up on yourself. And whether in romantic love or the pursuit of one’s passions, that notion is burnt into the stone throughout the album—but it’s not just enough to blaze your own way through the world alone. “If I Should Lose My Mind” drives home in sultry-clicks and claps of percussion the belief—one the two siblings learned no doubt as being two of four children to their parents—you don’t always have to go it alone.
Wild Belle will be going on a headlining tour next month with its final show slated for The Lodge Room in Los Angeles on May 5. They will also be joining Beck and Cage the Elephant on tour this summer for The Night Running tour.
Wild Belle’s album Everybody One Of A Kind is out now and you can get ahold of it here. Visit their website and Facebook to stay updated on future releases and tours.
Words by Steven Ward
Wild Belle tour:
4/2 – Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
4/3 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
4/4 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
4/5 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
4/6 – St. Louis, MO @ Ready Room
4/7 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
4/8 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
4/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live Philadelphia
4/11 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
4/12 – Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
4/13 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
4/14 – Somerville, MA @ ONCE Ballroom
4/16 – New York, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom
4/17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
4/18 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
4/19 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom & Tavern
4/20 – Ferndale, MI @ Loving Touch
4/21 – Chicago, IL @ The Metro
4/28 – Tustin, CA @ Marty’s on Newport
4/29 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Soho
4/30 – San Jose, CA @ The Ritz
5/1 – San Francisco @ The Independent
5/3 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
5/4 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
5/6 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
5/7 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theater
5/8 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
5/10 – Dallas, TX @ Cambridge Room
5/11 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
5/12 – Austin, Texas @ Antone’s
5/14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
5/15 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
5/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Lodge Room
7/26 – Austin, TX @ Austin 360 Amphitheater
7/27 – Dallas, TX @ The Dos Equis Pavilion
7/28 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
7/30 – St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
7/31 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
8/02 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
8/03 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theater
8/04 – Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
7/26 – Austin, TX @ Austin 360 Amphitheater
7/27 – Dallas, TX @ The Dos Equis Pavilion
7/28 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
7/30 – St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
7/31 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
8/02 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
8/03 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theater
8/04 – Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
