Iconic American singers, silent film actresses, knighted artists, chefs well-versed in French cuisine, young girls on adventures in Wonderland, and Greek goddesses and muses each find themselves a home on Wednesday’s Child’s Seven Sisters.

Released in July 2023, the EP contains seven tracks, each bearing the name of a woman the band has drawn inspiration from. These muses, combined with the band’s signature mix of psychedelic and experimental rock with influences of goth, punk, and jazz, as well as sprinkles of a love of literature, the occult, and the grotesque, all come together to create the titular seven sisters.

If there is anything Wednesday’s child understands, it is important to make a first impression. The opening track, “Billie,” named after Billie Holiday starts with a whisper and quickly erupts into cacophony. It can almost be argued that “Billie” is less of a song and more of a poem accompanied by mountingly suspenseful drums, a building bass line, a sleeping giant of a guitar, creeping bassoons, and words bordering on ghoulish. It is the awakening of a slumbering, long-forgotten, powerful beasts.

Next out of her slumber is “Theda,” aptly named after silent film star Theda Bara, also referred to as “The Vamp.” Packed with frenetic and hypnotic guitar, accompanying lyrics that transport you to a coven of vampires and witches, and an interpolation of a couple of verses from Rudyard Kipling’s “The Vampire,” the track serves as a loose biography of and homage to Bara’s public image and career. While perhaps unsuitable for the faint of heart, it’s full of character and offbeat energy that makes it perfect for devotees of the supernatural and occult and fans of songs that make you wonder if you’re about to be sacrificed to a coven of vampires. As they say, “She’s a vamp, she’s a vamp / She’s gonna get you / Watch your back, watch your throat / She’s gonna bite you / Prepare yourselves for mass hysteria.”

The following track, “Paula,” named for Dame Paula Rego, comes to life with the sound of soaring guitar and the jingling of tambourine. Like its predecessors, the track hosts its fair share of spoken word. This time, they pay homage to the nursery rhyme “Monday’s Child,” the source of the band’s name. However, they decided to refer to each subject as a woman rather than a child – seven sisters for seven days a week.

American Chef Julia Child soon follows in “Julia.” Coming in as the act break in the EP, the track is a bit of a shift. Where the previous three songs have been heavy and occult, “Julia” is more beachy, more twangy. But make no mistake, the track still has a beautiful texture and rhythm to it, offering a hallucinogenic journey to its listeners, topped off with a gorgeous build-up to a jazzy breakdown.

In a strong return to form, Wednesday’s Child takes on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the EP’s fourth track, “Alice.” But it feels like more than just an homage. Piercing through the song’s psychedelic guitar, suspense-building drums, and shockingly fitting bassoon features are striking lyrics that are a disconcerting tribute to the most grotesque parts of girlhood and burgeoning womanhood. Describing Alice as a “fleshy menace to society” is certainly a creative liberty many would not take, but it is one masterfully pulled off in this song. Its lyrics are firmly rooted in Carroll’s story and universe, but as it continues, you can’t help but feel like it’s about more than just a girl on an adventure in Wonderland. 

While the entire EP would fit right in as a sister piece to Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology by Jess Zimmerman, this track cements it the most. In less than two and a half minutes, “Alice” explores the desire to grow up, the crushing weight of maturity, and the monotonous societal expectation to be petite and meek. “Am I ugly or divine? / The baby or the swine? / Did this come from my own doing? / Well, that’s just by design,” is almost the song’s thesis, but on a wider scale, the EP as a whole.

As “Alice” fizzles into its torturous conclusion, a new muse steps up to the plate. The penultimate offering, “Ronnie” is an ode to Ronnie Spector, and this one feels a lot more vulnerable and honest than the others. The songwriting is still marked by the band’s signature eccentricity, but the arrangement is evocative of 50s and 60s girl groups like The Crystals, The Fontane Sisters, and of course, The Ronettes, with added texture that is so characteristic of Wednesday’s. At almost five minutes, “Ronnie” is the longest song on the EP, and it’s not hard to see why. With yearning lyrics and crooning vocals that swell into this beautiful emotional peak, it’s a tribute to tortured romantics, past, present, and future.

Just before you think the EP has hit its peak, you’re met with the strong closer, “Terpsichore,” in which frontwoman Georgia Williams is transformed into the Greek muse and goddess of chorus and dance. It’s the band’s most streamed track on Spotify and it’s not hard to see why. “Terpsichore” is vibrant, innovative, and bursting with divine trickery. Much like “Theda,” this track is packed with so much indulgent energy that all you can do is buckle in for the ride and hang on for your life. With a yelp over here, a giggle over there, and swooping and dipping vocals in abundance, Williams is a spellbinding and mischievous “Terpsichore.” Coupled with the song’s bubbly and jazzy electric guitar, and funky bass, as well as a surprising, yet tasteful, appearance by the cowbell, it’s the band at their finest.

With a runtime of only twenty minutes, it’s hard to not want more from Wednesday’s Child, but one thing is clear – Seven Sisters is a carefully, and masterfully, crafted body of work. It’s one thing to come up with a good vision and premise for an EP, but it’s another thing to pull it off this well. It’s behemoth, commanding, exciting, and punchy from start to finish. Whether you’re a fan of alternative music looking for something new and psychedelic, or simply an adventurous spirit looking for something witchy to spice up your impending Autumn playlists, the coven of Seven Sisters might just be calling out your name.

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