“Say I wanna have your baby/‘Cause I freckle and you tan.” It’s a startlingly great couplet that’s been rattling inside our heads all summer, ever since Wednesday previewed their new album, Bleeds , with the single “ Elderberry Wine ” in May. Some might tell their partner, “I hope our kid gets your nose,” but Karly Hartzman takes it up a notch. Her lyrics are rooted in utter specificity and late-twenties realness, sounding tender and timeless across Xandy Chelmis’ lap steel. “I find comfort that angels don’t give a damn,” she sings.

If you think the honeyed ballad stands in stark contrast to the lead single on Wednesday’s previous album (the ferocious, eight-minute “Bull Believer,” from 2023’s Rat Saw God ), that’s intentional. When Wednesday guitarist MJ Lenderman released th

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