WHY? have released their single “Pretend So Real,” the track was co-produced by Yoni Wolf and Nate Mercereau (André 3000, The Weeknd),  and off the artist’s forthcoming album Oh Golly / Yes Lord, available October 30th via Waterlines. The song also features harp by Victoria Lekson and production consultation by Ryan Olson (Poliça, Bon Iver) and WHY?’s Josiah Wolf. “‘Pretend So Real’ is about continuing to build a life in your mind with your former someone, knowing they’ve all but forgotten you; a fantasy romance growing through the rubble of a long-abandoned real-life relationship,” explains Yoni Wolf.

The track is out now alongside a video co-directed by Scott Fredette and Evan Cutler Wattles. “’Pretend So Real’–and really the whole Oh Golly / Yes Lord album (and really, the entirety of WHY?’s catalog)–feels introspectively reflective in a way that borders on fantasy, so we wanted this video to somehow capture that,” explains Cutler Wattles. “Nostalgia pumps up the saturation, cuts out the line waiting and taxes, cleans off the dandruff and hangnails, and eventually starts turning into something it’s not. Like how you end up remembering vacations or weddings through just the lens of the photos and videos you took. So we pulled about a decade of memories and fantasies featuring the endlessly photogenic Dr. Sam Pirok, filmed some eyeballs, and pieced this little ode to what was or could have been together.”

As Wolf reached middle age, he was beset by questions that had plagued him for years. Why was life so difficult and lonely? When would the happy part of him take the steering wheel? Far from wallowing, he leaned into the dark and the light, asking how and when real change was possible. Of course, transformation wasn’t a foreign concept to WHY?, the mercurial project that’s housed much of Wolf’s neuroses and restless creativity since the late ‘90s. This time, the two sides of a man became the basis for a new album split in half, at times diametrically opposed. Oh Golly / Yes Lord airs all of Wolf’s baggage while asking how a person resolves their different selves. “The album is not a flattering look at my life, but that’s not the point,” Wolf asserts. “This is warts-and-all stuff. I’m always striving for honesty in WHY?, but Oh Golly / Yes Lord is particularly revealing.”

By Wolf’s estimation, WHY?’s catalogue almost works in pairs.  “This is me being me in real time,” he says. Eventually, Wolf welcomed a few carefully chosen contributors, including his brother and longtime WHY? consigliere Josiah and producer Andrew Broder (Fog, Lambchop), who each co-write a track for the Oh Golly side, as well as Ryan Olson (Poliça, Bon Iver), who consulted on some production. And after years of mutual admiration, Wolf ended up hanging in the studio with Nate Mercereau (André 3000, The Weeknd). Trading ideas and sharing recent work blossomed into an unexpected and extensive collaboration unprecedented in WHY?’s history. As Wolf aimed to locate the minimal sound he heard in his head, Mercereau worked on nearly all of the Oh Golly half, adding guitar arrangements, synths, and more that helped shape the final aesthetic of the album.

Pre-order Oh Golly / Yes Lord out by WHY? HERE