"Wolf" is the penultimate track from Minneapolis-based indie rock trio Now, Now's second album Threads (2012). With couplets like 'I would kill to be your clothes/ Cling to your body and hang from your bones' and 'I would kill to be the cold/ Tracing your body and shaking your bones', it's clear that this isn't the typical song about sexual attraction and obsessive infatuation.
As music critics like Huw OliverDIYMag's have pointed out, the trio are capable of pulling off suprisingly mature-sounding songs despite only being a few years out of high school:
"Now, Now are that rare young band that can shape their unwieldy and powerful emotions into neat little sonic packages, all the better to be listened to and empathized with by their audience. Threads isn’t a concept album exactly, but the themes and motifs stay consistent throughout ...The album is nothing less than an exploration of the push and pull of growing up and growing apart, crafted with the abandon of kids who maybe don’t yet realize how fleeting these moments will be".
Perhaps it's young adults who do melancholic heartbreak the best kind of poetic justice; "Wolf" succeeds by virtue of its thoughful lyrics, effective reverberated guitars, Cacie Dalager’s exquisitely crestfallen vocals and organic drumming. SputnikMusic's SowingSeason has observed that Now, Now's sound borders on the boundaries between alt-ambient rock and pop, creating music that's only partially accessible to mainstream ears:
"Threads] never reaches levels of full-blown accessibility, but it always seems to possess a “just catchy enough” edge that lends a fair share of memorable moments to an otherwise ambient-driven record. Between its ability to captivate the listener and its superb atmospheric qualities, Threads is a haven for alternative rock fans who want something with both surface level beauty and a great deal of depth."
The atmospheric, ambient instrumentals set a perfect stage for Dalager's understatedly melancholic lamentations about being the girl that lingers at line between friendship and romance ('But I could make a mark/ If you would let me start'), who is only too aware of the obstacles that stop her from realising her innermost desires:
'You've been feeling smallerTake a different numberLike you doLike you doWhen you talk about itYou don't want to hear itTell me more, tell it all, can you take it.
