A Day Without Love Directly Calls Out This Year's Unrest In 2-Part EP, "WTF"

Brian Walker, photo by Connor Rothstein

Brian Walker, a multi-instrumentalist and genre-jumping performer who spearheads A Day Without Love, has been taking notes from the country’s much-needed social reform, political inaction, and even our infatuation with TikTok to put together his latest EP, WTF, Pt. 1. Aside from building this release, Walker has also spent most of his time in quarantine recording his weekly podcast, Dreams Not Memes, which currently has nearly 200 episodes of conversations with figures all across the greater Philadelphia area’s music industry.

WTF, Pt. 1 is meant to directly reflect on this summer’s Black Live’s Matter movement, the upcoming presidential election, and our generation’s obsession with binging short bursts of media from platforms like TikTok and Twitter. Walker uses his platform as a Black artist to give a first-person perspective on issues that some listeners feel have no direct effect on them. Tracks like “They’ll March When We Die” and “First Class or Every Class” (featuring OKBloomer), explore fear, frustration, the toll social media takes on our collective psyche, and demand for societal change. The cohesion between rap and rock feels effortless, with on-the-nose spoken word lyrics that push for action and cast out passivity.

WTF, Pt. 1 also explores the need for inclusivity across genres. “Mission” argues that Black artists don’t need to be confined to just one genre (typically rap or hip hop). Walker expertly chose the perfect collaborator to mix the other half of WTF to exemplify this. Bartees Cox, known professionally as Bartees Strange, released his debut LP Live Forever earlier this month via Memory Music with the intention of blending all genres and breaking as many boundaries as possible.

Walker has an extensive repertoire of releases under his belt, and putting out such a topical EP that reflects political unrest and a first-person perspective on racial tensions make WTF a definite necessary listen.

WTF, Pt. 1 is currently streaming, and WTF, Pt. 2 is due out on October 29th.