Wilted Flower are a two piece independent emo/folk/ambient duo based in Nottinghamshire, UK made up of Micki Woods on vocals/rhythm guitar and Ryan Warriner on lead guitar. The duo wrote and recorded their EP ‘Here Lies Our Love’ which was released July 2020. The 6-track EP explored the stages of grief from a love that died and did not hold back in terms of ensuring the raw emotion and feeling was accurate and poignant. Now the duo are releasing a deluxe version on tomorrow (aptly timing a release on February 14th) which will feature two brand new tracks and two acoustic versions of previously released songs on the EP. Micki Woods spoke to us regarding both the original release and the upcoming deluxe version. So where have these new tracks come from and why add them in a deluxe version package rather than putting out new music? “So I wrote To Death a year and a half ago and came across the demo, and listening to it I thought “that would really fit in well with the Here Lies Our Love era” as it doesn’t really fit with the next record we’ve got planned. And then not long after I wrote Wounds and sent a demo to Ryan, and after both listening we really thought we had to do it and release these tracks – now or never! And then the idea behind doing the acoustic versions was just to show a different, more mellow side to those more ‘punkier’ tracks” The emotion from both the originals and additional songs portray raw lyrics fresh from a broken heart and poignant vocal deliveries add another layer to this. Wilted Flower’s music provides an emotional, atmospheric backdrop to the detailing of loss of love and the difficulties it brings. The EP captures a large spectrum of emotion; from the initial anger, to the introspective dismay, and everything in between when a once deep love leaves you drowning. Writing the lyrics for this collection of songs meant visiting these emotions and addressing them head on though proved to be a great outlet for these emotions. “The writing process was a bit intense. So my previous engagement had broken down, and it was coming up to the date we were supposed to get married. I just went into a writing frenzy and wrote ‘Widow’ on a lunch break, sent it over to Ryan and we both agreed it needed recording asap. The writing continued and before we knew it we had five tracks built. We then got together everything we could and recorded, mixed and released in about 6 weeks. So yeah, it’s been intense, but we’re proud of this record.” With regards to how the sound of the songs developed and Wilted Flower’s overall progression and development it is clear that the sound has progressed beyond acoustic. “In regard to influences musically, it sort of organically grew into this sound when Ryan came onboard and I wanted to explore my more ‘punky’ edges. Before Wilted Flower was just me and an acoustic guitar, but then it’s now developed into what I think is truly Wilted Flower’s sound. We call it ambi-punk (ambient punk).” This ambitious duo have created a soundtrack to your sadness that is both interpretable and cathartic as well as introspective and raw. The previous release was an underground gem and the fact that the era of ‘Here Lies Our Love’ can continue a little longer as well as expanding is nothing but a good thing. Make sure to check out the deluxe release of ‘Here Lies Our Love’ on February 14th, particularly those spending the infamous v-day alone and wanting something a little downbeat! Make sure to show your support and follow Wilted Flower on socials: Facebook – /wiltedflowermusic Instagram – /wiltedfloweruk Twitter – @wiltedfloweruk