If you thought you knew the direction Wand was embarking upon with last year’s impressive Plum, hold on to your socks. Because the five-piece band is hitting notes and sounds beyond expectation. On “The Gift,” their brand new single that dropped today, Wand elicits experimentation on a new level while remaining tethered to their robust, gorgeously arranged, explosion of sound. The opening reminds me of Radiohead’s “Reckoner”and hints of Animal Collective, with Cory Hanson’s soothing delivery floating like a plume of smoke around grizzling, cascading guitars. And yet it’s impossible to ignore Wand’s birth as proto babies in that final shred heavy breakdown. This is a band bursting with untapped potential on the edge of creative discovery. Or maybe they’re already there, and we’re still waiting in the dust, waiting for everything to settle.

“The Gift” is the first release from Wand’s forthcoming EP Perfume, described as a collection of “seven electric hues, shocks of light that flagrantly provoke the dark, a posy’s clutch of purple, fuchsia, green and snowy white that curl against a stench of plague.” The mini album was recorded between tours in Grass Valley, CA by Tim Green and mixed in Woodstock by Daniel James Goodwin, and features the full band: Hanson, Sofia Arreguin, Evan Burrows, Robbie Cody, and Lee Landey, in all their glory. Perfume drops May 25th on Drag City, but for now, breathe in “The Gift,” and keep that repeat button going. –Maya Eslami