If you’ve been following TDL for quite some time, you’re probably familiar with electro/pop duo, Wall of Trophies. Comprised of Brittany Jean Valint and Will Copps, WoT have made their return with new album, Cassettes By Mail – their third record and follow up to 2019’s Semaphore.
Building up on their aesthetic of conceptual pieces inspired by long distance communication (beginning with their 2016 debut, Heliograph), Cassettes By Mail takes that notion further, diving into a deeply personal story for Copps as his parents recorded long messages on cassette tapes during their engagement in the late 1960s. Mailed back and forth from New Orleans to DC, those tapes are sampled throughout the record, along with the nostalgic analog feel of custom tape loops by Copps and Valint by sending their digital recordings to tape and then back again.
Swirling synths and ambient hooks galore, Cassettes By Mail is exactly what fans have been anticipating from the duo and then some.
We asked Brittany and Will to break down each track off of Cassettes By Mail for an exclusive track-by-track commentary. Enjoy and make sure you press play below!
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“Anyone Else”
Brittany: We wanted to capture the feeling of falling in love. That moment in time that is thrilling, intense, and magical and we believe that the music and lyrics mirror those feelings. When creating the song, I envisioned literal sparks, fireworks, and spinning around a room in some sort of fantastical meet cute.
Will: The album isn’t strictly chronological, but this has almost always been the opening track… starting from my dad’s welcoming “Hello!” (which I’ve been saying to random strangers with NO context)… but it’s really been first because of the lyrics. This song’s been reworked a ton, but always focused on that moment of seeing someone across a room and just knowing that was it. Perfect start to a love story. We wanted the sparks to fly in person before we go on the journey of sending cassettes over distance.
“The Future”
Brittany: This song was written as the back and forth chapter of a love story. Making a relationship work often takes sacrifice and/or compromise. This song is that pivotal moment where a decision needs to be made to go forward. The song implies that the couple will choose a future where they are together, promising “I’m going to love you forever, and every bit more.” Fun Fact: The lyrics draw some real life inspiration from the time I actually ventured to an island in a row boat, got caught in a storm, and had to be rescued.
Will: ”The Future” is exactly what it says–it captures the agonizing doubt found in uncertainty when you’re picturing your future… and the hope and optimism pouring out. I got real Death Cab for Cutie vibes from this song early on–almost as soon as Brittany sent me the demo–and tried to go that way a little on the electric lead part.
“Ocean Blue”
Brittany: This song is such a fun, beautiful expression of love and longing. Missing someone has never been so danceable.
Will: Brittany and I were playing around on guitars in our studio when we came up with the rough idea for the instrumentals and chorus on this one; but it took until she sent me a picture of this street by her house to inspire the verses and bring the song together around the synth. You’ll see Brittany dancing on that same street in our music video. It was really important for us to have a song that captured the beauty you find in longing for someone for the theme of the album!
“Meadow”
Brittany: In 2021, I lost someone very dear to me. I had known it was happening for a while, but it was still a difficult time to travel, especially if you wanted to visit someone who was sick. I felt a mixture of feelings: lonely, sad, frustrated. On the cloudiest of days, I wrote this song. It poured out of me as I imagined the world where my dear friend had now passed on to. It is purposefully upbeat, unique, and full of life. Losing someone has never been so danceable.
Will: Maybe my favorite song on the album; I know this one is deeply personal for Brittany–so I’ll hit on the production. I love the warbly cassette piano here (featured throughout the album!) and, if you listen closely, you can hear a pitched down double of Brittany’s voice that has such a cool quality to it, done with Soundtoys Little Alterboy. We used that trick on several songs on the album, but here we really played it up for effect.
“Have My Heart”
Brittany: This song is for anyone who has ever had a broken heart, but has never felt more alive. For anyone who has loved someone so hard that you become reckless. For anyone who has experienced all of these things with no regret. “Hearts exploding like a July sky” needs to be on a t-shirt somewhere…
Will: A pretty straightforward fun pop production; it really clicked when we were in a pop-up studio and Brittany came up with the little key melody. I simply CANNOT play a good funk/disco-style guitar, but was kinda going for it and this is what came out. I really like it even if it’s not exactly the intended part.
“Alexandria”
Brittany: Will and I were born in the same town at the same hospital! Something we didn’t really discover until finalizing this album. The lyrics of this song are actually too personal to explain here (forgive me). But I will say it is about a desperate desire to connect with where you came from with the hope of finding out who you truly are.
Will: Brittany and I’s first band practices were in Alexandria, Virginia–and it’s also the place I was born and my parents spent the biggest portion of their lives. Brittany and I have this songwriting process where, for almost every song she writes, she sends an acoustic guitar or piano demo, I work on it and feel like I mess it up, and then go back to something that’s pretty much just her original vision. It worked here 🙂 For some reason, it took four different acoustic guitars before we found one that sounded good on this song.
“Nothing”
Brittany: I have this mind that never stops. I remember exact dates in my life, and not just birthdays and landmark events but EVERYTHING (good and bad, mostly bad). Sometimes it is too much to bear, so I imagined a world where on those days I feel NOTHING. A strange thing to aspire to… feeling nothing. Creating this song felt so cathartic and feeling nothing never sounded so good. Fun Fact: On our debut Wall of Trophies album, Heliograph, we had a song titled “Everything” and on our sophomore album we had a song called “Something” and now we have “Nothing”…not planned at all, but here we are. What do you think the next album’s song will be?
Will: When I lived in Germany, I bought this absolute monster monophonic synth from the German company MFB called the Dominion 1. This might be its only main appearance on this album, but it absolutely slams. The second we had this, I got real TV on the Radio vibes–which is probably where the background “oooos” came from. We both know the technical production approach would’ve been to bring the synth down, but we just refused. The rockout moment here is my favorite single moment on the album. Also, Brittany wrote this song in part to help me get through some dates that were stuck in my own head… she’s not only the best bandmate but friend!! “Those dates will come and go… and I won’t even know!” There’s a beautiful optimism and determination in here.
“Cassettes by Mail”
Brittany: This song feels like magic to me. Like you can feel decades of love coming out of those cassette tape samples into the song. It is definitely not cool to admit that you are inspired by your own song, but I am constantly moved by the power and beauty in this song, like it’s not even ours and instead was written and driven by our loved ones and their stories. It is a special one.
Will: We NEVER purpose-write songs for an album like this. Brittany and I actually both wrote different songs called “Cassettes by Mail” and went back and forth before picking this one. It’s realllllly intimidating tying to duet with Brittany’s voice but we really wanted to capture the male-female dialogue, like we were sending tapes back and forth to each other. It worked!
“Dark Cloud”
Brittany: This song can be considered “Meadow’s” darker twin. A beautifully gloomy expression of feeling loss and heartbreak while the rest of the world goes on as usual.
Will: This one used so many cassette tapes. That’s my Granny talking, from New Orleans, sending a tape to my (now married) mom and dad in DC. But even the piano and other parts were transferred to cassettes and back. Good time to share–the tape loops on this album are all hand made. We were really into the idea of the tape loop aesthetic for the album, but self-contained tape loops (of which we ordered a couple and made many more) only actually last about 2-5 seconds. So we used a Dremel to cut open blank cassette tapes (and the side of the TASCAM Ministudio we bought to make the album) and snuck these super long tape loops out, across my desk, to get 15- and 20-second loops to build atmospheres on. This was painstaking but really paid off. I love the warm warbly feeling.
“Wish That I Could Talk to You”
Brittany: The theme of longing is strong with this song. The intention is both metaphorical and literal. Wishing that you could talk to someone and that they would see the real you…and LOVE it!!
Will: With no evidence to back this up, the synth on this song reminds me of Phil Collins. I think I always hesitated to include this song because of my “rap” part, but the second we put it on tape and pushed it into the background, it matched the album aesthetic. I think, in five years, this’ll probably be my favorite song!
“Set”
Brittany: At this point I don’t even remember when or where we tracked these vocals. It’s like they pushed their way out of the darkness. This song is a perfect example of how Will can create the most stunning atmospheric works of art. I am just happy to be here in the front row.
Will: We thought it’d be fun to get ourselves onto tape… so you’ll hear a poem I wrote and recited, as well as little snippets of Brittany’s voice. Her vocals on this give me chills every time I hear them… and that little “whoo-whoooop” sample of her voice is the most M83 thing we’ve probably done. I adore it.
“The River”
Brittany: Will and I met in college years ago. While there, I used to visit the Rappahannock river frequently. I unintentionally swam with otters and beavers, I fished, I ate barbeque, I swam in dangerous rapids (what was I thinking?!) The lyrics in this song were written by Will, but these experiences played in my mind while singing. My mind still goes to the woods and the river, dreaming up all of the undiscovered magic still waiting there for me.
Will: You might think this one has deeper meaning, but no–it’s really just about a guy going to the river with pomegranates in hand, feeling a youthful energy. It takes me back to when I used to run through the woods with my cousin JP, or to walking my dog through the woods by our house eating apricots or other snacks. Capturing that sense of youthful, playful excitement was important for us on this album. And, PSA, if you haven’t gone on a walk in the woods eating fruit… I don’t know what to tell you. We also loved the idea of ending the album with my mom talking, since we started with my dad–this time, of course, my mom happily married talking about their first-born, my brother Bobby.
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