After 17-Yr Hiatus, Autistic Little one Evokes Musician Father To Lastly Launch His Subsequent Album
Singer and songwriter Kevin Whelan has always made music, especially in the 90s and early 2000s when he sang and played bass for an indie rock band called The Wrens.
But although The Wrens released their last album, The Meadowlands, to almost universal acclaim in 2003, the New Jersey band never released another album. They did not split up, but members married, had children, and began careers. Life just got in the way.
But Whelan himself never stopped making music, despite falling short of his own family and a pharmaceutical job. That changed in 2013 when Whelan’s 15-month-old son Ryder was diagnosed with autism.
“That got me back to writing at that point,” Whelan said. “The worries of not understanding what to do, what life will bring us and all that,” said the singer-songwriter, who channeled all the worries and fears about his son’s diagnosis into new songs.
Now Ryder has grown into a healthy 8 year old boy who teaches his parents love and beauty every day. This includes helping them focus on what is essential in life and dig deep to overcome challenges, even during a pandemic that is tough on children with special needs. Ryder – who has limited speaking skills but loves music – even inspired his father to finally release his next album, which will feature songs his father has been waiting for for nearly two decades.
“I released my last album when I was thirty-three and I kind of waited,” says Whelan, who is now 51. Jobs, work and all that stuff … I think [Ryder] really inspired me to see that there are more important things in life. He inspired me not to wait. He inspired me that every moment is precious and that we cannot develop a Jenga strategy for our life and believe that it will work. It just doesn’t happen that way. “
The new album, Observatory, is not a Wrens album because this band is on hiatus. But it does include songs that Whelan originally wrote for their next album, as well as 3 of the band’s 4 original members (including Kevin’s brother Greg Whelan). Kevin Whelan describes their latest album, which will be released on December 10th by Sub Pop Records under the band’s new name, Aeon Station, as an extension of where this music left off.
“Aeon Station is the continuation of that life story, so to speak,” said Whelan, whose latest album features an extensive collection of songs written in the 17 years since The Meadowlands, as well as songs (such as “Fade” that are available to listen to). below) written for his autistic son.
“It’s over this long period of time that I wasn’t even married, then I got married, then I have my kids, and then I have autism,” said Whelan, of all the emotion, confusion, and love that comes with bringing up one autistic child, poured into his latest album. The title of the new album, Observatory, was also chosen for Ryder.
“I picked this up especially for him because he’s watching the world,” Whelan said. “He taught me that he might not communicate in the normal way, but he certainly watches and lives in the exact same place that I am all the time.”
The observatory will be available for purchase on December 10, 2021.
