Wet Leg Producer Dan Carey Shares Secrets From ‘Moisturizer’ Sessions: ‘They’re Almost Telepathic!’

Many things changed for Wet Leg up of its 2nd album, Moisturizer — but 1 changeless was acclaimed shaper Dan Carey (Fontaines D.C., Caroline Polachek, Grimes), who returned to the fold aft helming the band’s self-titled debut and helped the group’s caller lineup unleash its sound.

Below, helium reflects connected creating the sessions that sculpted the British group’s latest full-length, standout memories from the workplace and more.

What were your expectations earlier heading into the studio?

When we did the archetypal grounds together, nary 1 was rather expecting what was going to happen. The 2nd clip around, they weren’t moving successful an imaginary space, and they knew that radical were going to beryllium listening to it. They didn’t privation to repetition themselves and wanted a darker, slower, heavier sound.

How did bringing the afloat set into the workplace power the sessions?

Everyone had contributed to the penning of the songs, truthful the full set had a deeper cognition of not conscionable what their parts were, but what the songs meant and however they were constructed. The playing truly benefited from that.

How did they interact successful the studio?

They’d toured truthful overmuch that the mechanics of playing unneurotic were truthful down and they’re ace tight, but it’d gone beyond that — they’re astir telepathic! These caller songs hadn’t been overrehearsed and they were inactive fresh. The set were inactive astatine a constituent wherever they were excited to play it.

How bash you attack each session?

I decidedly accommodate [my methods] for antithetic artists. It has a batch to bash with the personalities. I don’t similar to person a acceptable process that I instrumentality to each record. I’ve got a method successful the workplace which is to effort and debar playing the aforesaid opus implicit and implicit again. If we’re recording, I’d bundle songs into groups of 2 oregon three, truthful you ne'er person that repetition of hammering a opus until it’s mislaid its light. Everything was caller due to the fact that of that and I deliberation it shows successful the record. You tin perceive things being discovered successful the playing. Sometimes I’ll effort and bounds the fig of sounds and instrumentality each instrumentalist tin use. I deliberation 1 of the pitfalls tin beryllium radical conscionable adding and adding layers and I similar things to beryllium clear.

What opus are you peculiarly arrogant of?

I already liked the demo to “Davina McCall,” but erstwhile we started tracking it successful the workplace it started sounding truthful heartwarming. When Rhian [Teasdale] did her archetypal vocal track, I really started crying. It was a truly comic moment. I thought it was truthful beauteous and I benignant of mislaid it.

Was it a amusive process?

Both records person had an aggravated feeling of being connected holiday. We recorded ­[Moisturizer] successful Brighton, distant from wherever they lived and my accustomed ...