What do a circus ringmaster, mad scientist, and accordionist have in common? Somehow, all of them live inside the music of Will Wood. While it’s something you may be familiar with if you were on TikTok circa 2020 (or have a few friends curious about folk-ish genre-bending tunes), not many people fully explore his discography, or even listen to enough tracks to get interested.

First of all, who is Will Wood? Surely that isn’t his real name, you must be thinking. It isn’t. His name is unknown, to answer your question! Clearly there’s more to this New Jersey-born singer-songwriter than meets the eye. 

Since previously recording with The Tapeworms (his band) he’s released two solo albums. The Tapeworms came up through the New Jersey underground scene, gaining recognition for their meaningful – albeit unconventional – live performances (picture trapezes and face paint). Although the band still provides instrumentals for Wood’s solo albums, they only perform at select shows. It is worth noting, however, that Wood is able to command a crowd with just his piano, guitar, and vocals!

Now, I do get it. Your playlists may already be stuffed chock full of pop subgenres, or perhaps the same circulation of the three mildly popular indie bands Spotify forces down your throat. There’s an abundance of music for every kind of person, so sticking to what you know and love is understandable. However, I do recommend giving Will Wood a listen! It might be the wild instrumentation, unconventional lyrics, or perhaps the choruses you’ll hesitate to admit are catchy, but his songs are anything but skippable.

Equal parts artist and performer, Wood’s authenticity and theatricality have gained him a cult following and a loyal and ever-growing fanbase. It’s hard to classify the genre of his music (Indie? Jazz? Rock? Alternative? Experimental, maybe?) but there’s always some element of raucous instrumentals and lyrics dense enough to get lost in, in the best possible way. 

Moreso building narratives as opposed to writing songs, his lyrics tell numerous stories about gender identity, mental health, human nature, and everything in-between (my personal favorites of his are about rats if that gives you any ideas), all squeezed between piano ballads, 20-piece bands, insane amounts of saxophone, and sometimes just ukulele. Listening to him is akin to diving head first into the beautiful absurd, exploring new perspectives that (contrary to his often-clamorous style of music) are profoundly vulnerable, challenging you to think and feel in the midst of a cacophony of strange new sounds.

In this world, it’s common for music to sound more-or-less the same: factory-made and tailored to the traits Spotify assumes you possess according to the trusty cookies in your browser. Naturally, it’s exciting to come across an artist that is refreshingly himself, or at least doesn’t make music into a checkbox list of certain demographics. 

The best advice I can give you here is to give him a shot! Worst case, you may hear a piano solo that makes you question Wood’s songwriting abilities. Best case, you’ll find some good proof that art doesn’t ever have to be neat and easy to categorize, and maybe that’s what your playlists are missing.