Words by Anna Rose

New Zealand’s best kept secret.

In New Zealand, Written By Wolves exist, and they are about to revolutionise the scene with the release of their debut album, Secrets, in November.

“It’s a terrifying time,” singer Michael Murphy tells me with a nervous chuckle.

Nervous energy aside, Written By Wolves have absolutely nothing to fear.

This is a band who, before their conception, have spent some years individually throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. As a group, they’ve taken those tried and tested elements, merging them into an album that is refreshingly different. The cinematic treat that is the film clip for single ‘As Long As It Takes’ had its premiere in Kerrang! earlier this month, so yes, they are that good.

“I think it’s the fact that we’ve done it all,” Murphy says of why he thinks Written By Wolves work so well. “I honestly believe I couldn’t have written this album – and as much as I wish I was [still] 21 – I don’t think I had it in me.

“I don’t think I could have written this album at the start of this band, which was four years ago.

“We’ve taken so much of our experiences and that’s all, in some airy-fairy way, led to this.”

What grabbed me about Secrets is though the band are classed as hard rock, they very easily topple over the edge into the pit of post-hardcore, even rolling over a little R&B debris on the descent. It’s a knockout journey, and what seems to have been a painful one in some ways for the band given the thematic division in much of the album, but it’s a journey both Murphy and you will be glad you took.

“We said, ‘Alright what do we love? Let’s draw on everything we love about music and see if we can smash it all into something.’

“We came up with the idea of cinematic rock and to try and create more of a soundscape in the music.

“When you’re watching a movie, the composer draws you in different ways – at one point might make you feel one thing, another point, feel something else.

That’s what I love about Written By Wolves. Neither hardcore, hard rock, heavy metal, or anything in between, Written By Wolves just sound like themselves, and it’s

that effortless, cohesive mode of creation that will be the biggest pull for this band.

“It’s seeing how far we can take the concept of the music and the imagery and mould it into one,” says Murphy.

“It’s seeing what sort of experience we can give our fans and listeners, what emotional places we can take them to.”

Written By Wolves new album, Secrets, is out on Friday November 8. Find out more about the band via their website.