Wavves have pulled Cherry Soda, the album jointly credited to the band and Say Anything, and Nathan Williams says he will re-record it on his own. "Going back into the studio on Monday and I will finish this as a proper wavves album," he wrote on Instagram on Sept. 2, promising further announcements.
The record was due on Sept. 18 through I Surrender Records. Announced in July and produced by Aaron Rubin, it ran to 10 tracks and was previewed with the singles Deathx1k and Still Alive. Max Bemis is credited as a songwriter on seven of the 10.
Williams pulled it after allegations against Bemis surfaced. Multiple young women posted screenshots of purported exchanges with him on Say Anything's subreddit, including a 17-year-old who said he communicated with her for six months knowing she was underage and that the conversations turned sexual, and a 19-year-old whose screenshots showed him discussing his attraction to younger people after she raised the age gap. Bemis cancelled a run of solo shows, with a statement citing his mental health that did not address the allegations.
The financial hit is Williams's alone. He says 10,000 records have already been pressed and estimates the decision will cost him around 200,000 dollars. "I don't want to be associated with the guy so it's as simple as that," he wrote in messages to fans on Patreon, adding that whatever he loses does not matter at that point.
He has also disputed the billing the album carried. Despite Say Anything being presented as a full collaborator, Williams says he spent 11 months on the record while Bemis was in the studio for a few days, and called Cherry Soda a Wavves record in all but name. That claim is what makes a solo re-recording possible at all rather than a total write-off.
Re-recording is the slower of the two options he floated. Stripping Bemis's contributions out of the finished album was discussed and would have delayed the September date; cutting the whole thing again pushes it further still. It leaves an indie rock release that had a date, a pressing and two singles out with none of those things intact.
The facts
- Cherry Soda was due Sept. 18 via I Surrender Records and ran to 10 tracks.
- Nathan Williams says he will re-record it solo as a Wavves album.
- Max Bemis is credited as a songwriter on seven of the album's 10 tracks.
- Williams says 10,000 vinyl copies were pressed and estimates a 200,000 dollar loss.
- He says he spent 11 months on the record and Bemis a few days in the studio.
- Bemis cancelled solo shows after allegations posted on Say Anything's subreddit.
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