FOTO: Mitchell Wojcik 

Wild Pink’s warm, reflective indie rock tunes follow the soft-spoken lead of singer and songwriter John Ross. The group delivered their eponymous full-length debut in 2017. Their more expansive third album, 2021’s A Billion Little Lights, enlisted help from session musicians and Grammy-winning engineer David Greenbaum. Following 2021’s 6 Cover Songs EP and Ross‘ recovery from cancer surgery, they delivered their textured and thoughtful fourth album, 2022’s ILYSM.

Ross formed Wild Pink in New York after sharing a two-track release, they made their label debut with the EP Good Life on Texas Is Funny Records in June 2015. That led to a record deal with Tiny Engines, which issued the EP 4 Songs in 2016. The band’s debut album, Wild Pink, arrived on Tiny Engines in early 2017. They co-produced their next album with Justin Pizzoferrato (Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh). The resulting Yolk in the Fur came out in mid-2018. March 2019’s 5 Songs was their final release with Tiny Engines.

The trio’s more ambitious third album, A Billion Little Lights, was produced, mixed, and co-engineered by David Greenbaum (Beck, Jenny Lewis) and involved the participation of various friends and session musicians. Arriving in early 2021, it marked Wild Pink’s debut for Royal Mountain Records. It was followed by another EP, 6 Cover Songs, which included the band’s versions of songs by Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, and others. Six months into working on their fourth full-length, singer Ross was diagnosed with cancer.

He eventually underwent surgery to remove some of his lymph nodes, and the band was able to complete the album. Released in October 2022, ILYSM found Ross ruminating on his battle with cancer and taking a more textured and stripped-down acoustic approach. Co-produced with longtime associate Pizzoferrato, the album also featured guest appearances by J Mascis, Yasmin Williams, Samantha Crain, and others. Included on the record was the single „Hold My Hand“ with Julien Baker.