The Collection
When we lean on one another, we don’t fall.
The Collection derives an inimitable musical language from the unbreakable bond between its members. Fronted by David Wimbish, the Saxapahaw, NC-based band places just as much emphasis on interpersonal community and relationships as it does on the music itself.
On their new EP How To Survive An Ending (Nettwerk Music Group, January 2023), The Collection emanates positivity from a place of pure love encoded in a pastiche of alternative, pop, folk, and roots.
This isn’t an overnight success story. This is generating tens of millions of streams across various releases, logging tens of thousands of miles on the road, earning praise from American Songwriter, Glide, Parade, and more, and landing on NPR Tiny Desk Judges’ Picks - all before signing their first record deal.
Over the years, the group has fine-tuned its approach to making music and being together on the road to the point of codifying a signature set of “rules for how to be a band.” The first rule is a strict ‘No Sarcasm Rule’. “We don’t put each other down or act passive aggressively.” Instead, they’re honest, direct, and open. They take time for therapy and mental health as another rule. “We’re always supportive of each other. We’re listening, we’re trying our best to show up for one another.”
“We try to give each other constant encouragement, especially on the road” notes Wimbish. “If someone needs a cheerleading session, we pitch in and encourage that person. Before we get on stage, we’ll do breathing exercises together and get everyone in the same place mentally. In general, we try to implement healthy practices—whether we’re on tour or at home. It’s part of who we are, and it’s part of our community.”
And that community has only continued to blossom. Following 2014’s full-length debut Ars Morendi, the band attracted a devout fanbase with Listen To The River [2017] and Entropy [2018]. Among many highlights from the latter, standout single “Beautiful Life” has gathered 6.5 million Spotify streams and counting. At the same time, they became renowned for raucous and rowdy performances. The group has lit up festival stages and crisscrossed the country with The Oh Hellos, RIPE, Tall Heights, and Sammy Rae & The Friends, to name a few.
Following their Valentine’s Day EP I Love You, and I Think I Like You Too in 2020, the band unveiled a string of acclaimed singles while touring halted and they waited for the pandemic to subside.
It’s clear when you speak to Wimbish about his bandmates that they are real friends. It isn’t just about music or the shows. They really do care for one another.
Of “Blue Day,” the first of the bunch, Parade proclaimed, “Breezy acoustic guitar and a sweet melancholy sentiment help paint this pristine vocal landscape,” and American Songwriter noted, “The raw track evokes a sense of serenity with lofty vocals that eloquently deliver a timely reminder of kindness.” “GET LOST” came along next, which Alfitude hailed as “a song with deeply meaningful lyricism, emotive vocals and a beautifully constructed melody.”
Throughout 2021 and 2022, the musicians carefully assembled what would become the EP.
“The Pandemic changed how I wrote,” notes David. “In the past, I would just sit down with a guitar or piano and write a song while playing the instruments. In the Pandemic, I was figuring out how to send ideas back and forth to my bandmates since we all live five hours apart. I’d create a beat or write on an electronic instrument. The structure was built in a different way. We played around with new guitar sounds, synth sounds, and drum parts. It was fun to experiment and figure out what we like to do individually and stylistically.”
The Collection paved the way for their new label partner with the sticky, string-boosted, “Won’t Stop Yet.” The song features an irresistible hook above layered soundscape and relatable, universal lyrics. It quickly reeled in half-a-million streams and with touring coming back to life the rooms started filling in to boot as they continued to play shows in advance of the release.
On “Sorry Baby,” the first single off the EP, a plunky cello hook entwines with wavy synths as Wimbish’s emotive vocals echo, “I can be nice if niceness is needed, I can swallow up the blues, but I ain’t gonna say, ‘Sorry baby’.” It culminates on a glorious choir-style chant that already has audiences singing along.
“When I wrote “Sorry Baby”, I felt like I was getting stuck on other people’s expectations of what this music is supposed to be,” he admits. “One day, I decided to pretend the voices I was hearing were embodied by a physical person in the room – and I wrote this song to them, answering all of these thoughts and expectations. Finishing this track really broke open the proverbial dam for the rest of the EP – I churned out 3 or 4 more songs in that session.”
One of those songs is the 2nd single, “Rose Colored Glasses.” Here, Wimbish serves up a dreamy, shimmering harmony that eventually gives way toward an eternally optimistic plea to, “Give me those rose-colored glasses” as he reflects upon a past partner.
“I had gone through a big breakup with a partner I’d been with for five years,” he recalls. “We lived together and traveled the country. I felt lucky to go through the breakup with some mutual understanding and a desire to stay close friends while realizing it was time to end the romantic partnership. It came out of this desire to maintain some autonomy with joy and gratefulness about the partnership.”
Ultimately, the musicians open their community to anyone in search of one. “I hope you feel validated and empowered when you listen to us,” he leaves off.