WL, ‘You’re Not Really Here’ – Free MP3 Download

Portland transplants WL’s sound is a contrast between sweet and gritty elements — a combination you might expect from a collaboration whose members hail from Big Sur (singer-bassist Misty Mary) and Detroit (guitarist Michael Yun and drummer Stevie Sparks).

Prematurely deemed shoegaze, WL’s brand-new LP, ‘Hold,’ is brooding and wistful, but it also delivers some serious bite. The contrast lies between Mary’s dreamy, barely-there vocals -- reminiscent of acts like Azure Ray and Stars -- and the music laid down by Yun and Sparks, who act as the engine behind what would otherwise be described as “ethereal."

Grab today’s free MP3, ‘You’re Not Really Here,’ a bare and introspective track that closes the trio’s new album. According to Mary, the story behind the song may have inspired its rainy-day vibe.

“Mike and I recorded this song the first night we played music together," she tells Diffuser.fm. "We had agreed to meet through email, but I got lost on the way to his house and showed up two hours late, freezing, drenched in rain and also without a cell phone to tell him I was coming. Stevie found the track a little later and added the drums.”

“‘You’re Not Really Here’ was our first song and the reason we kept playing together,” she adds. “I feel like it cemented our relationship and is a foundation for everything else we’ve done.”

‘Hold’ is available now via Prospect & Refuge.