Composed and recorded during pre-pandemic time, ‘100,000 WHYS’ Wang Wen’s 11th album, heaves with beauty and intelligence. Lush, inviting, drawing on new textures and dynamics for the band, the album conjures rejuvenation and hope while holding fast to the sense of awe that suffuses their work. Each track is a new, supple equation written out with a steady hand, exact but also exacting in details that variously emerge or erupt from the core to shift the listeners perspective. This is a work born of clear thoughts stirring in busy minds. It’s also the most accessible album Wang Wen have produced so far, reaching out far to gather us all in close.
The name ‘100,000 WHYS ’comes from the English poet Kipling’s verse ‘One million Hows, two million Wheres, and seven million Whys!’.
‘Under the circumstance of 2020, nothing proves better than ‘100,000 WHYS’ . Though we are living with confusion, with no sense of settlement for the unknown future, we still hope to stay curious and inquisitive.’
