Ned And Wendy The Band: “Back Around Again” (2024) CD Review

Ned And Wendy The Band is the duo of Lindsey Plotner and Jordan Plotner, two people who began making music together before even having met, thanks to a mutual friend who was producing Lindsey’s music at the time (this was late 2019). Jordan was living in Los Angeles, Lindsey in New York, and the two began writing songs, and ended up falling in love. At this point, the pandemic was happening, and a lot of folks were making music remotely (in fact, it was oddly the norm). But their story was a little bit different than most, and soon Lindsey moved to Los Angeles. The two released their first album, Alive In Los Feliz, in 2022, and put out a short documentary film about their relationship. They also got married that year, and then at the end of August 2022, the couple made the move to Portland, Oregon, where they are now based. They released their second album, Welcome Home, in 2023, and have now put out a new album. Titled Back Around Again, it features all original material.

There is a brief bit of banter at the beginning of the first track, “There’s A Man On The Corner (Who’s Writing An Opera),” with Lindsey saying she’s going to get it this time. Jordan replies, “And if you don’t, it’s okay.” With other groups, that sort of thing might not work, might ring false. But with this duo, it seems fitting. Anyway, there is an undeniable beauty to this song. It’s all about the vocals, which are layered wonderfully. “We never ask him how he came to be a man who lives without a home/He never asks us how we came to be so far from our own.” The percussion is finger snaps and what sounds like knee slaps. “Maybe he’ll write us into his opera as he’s written into this song.” That’s followed by the album’s title track, “Back Around Again,” in which Lindsey sings, “You will recall who are your kin/Even when the land stretches far/From who you were to who you are/Back around again.” This song has a great appeal from its beginning, and it soon becomes gorgeous. I love how this song builds and grows and changes. Something about this song elates me – the sound, the feeling. Oh yes, life can be beautiful. “We always end where we begin.”

Jordan sings lead on “Walden.” Growing up in central Massachusetts, there was no question but that I would read Thoreau’s famous book and visit the pond. It had an impact on me, and on many of my friends. Clearly, it had some effect on Jordan as well. “Walden, Walden/Would you lead me to simplicity/Illuminate the excess within me.” There is always that desire, which is at odds with other desires within me and, I assume, within most of us. The song has a gentle delivery, which feels just exactly right. “Remind me how it feels/When my hands stiffen in the cold/When my family grows old/When I feel distant from my mind.” Lindsey then sings lead again on “Coming Home,” with lyrics that will likely speak to everyone. “I never saw myself as someone who had run/But someone who has grown/And whenever I can, I am coming, coming home.” Wonderful. I’ve mentioned it several times, but there is always something incredibly appealing in song about going home. And Lindsey’s passionate vocal performance is captivating. Plus, the music is gorgeous. That’s followed by “WNDER,” with Jordan on lead vocals. I’m not quite sure about the title, with the capital letters, for it doesn’t seem an abbreviation of anything, but rather a play on the words “wander” and “wonder,” for he sings, “I wander with my eyes, I wander with my feet/I wander through the forest, I wander down the street.” This line also stands out: “I wander away from the noise I keep inside.” And then in the second half “wander” turns to “wonder”: “And I wonder about the things I’ll never see/And I wonder about the person I’ll never be/All that isn’t me.” Perhaps the most interesting line in the second section is, “I wonder about the emptiness of words.”

“Marvelous Child” begins gently on guitar, creating a contemplative air before Lindsey sings, “Yesterday I thought that I knew everything/Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow brings/Me to my knees/I don’t know anything.” Wow, those lines and her delivery are striking. “I’m not asking for much/I’m not asking for much/Just want to know how/How do I live/How do I keep going like this.” She looks back as a songwriter: “Yesterday I was just a child, I wrote childish songs/Now my songs aren’t about anyone/They’re just about everyone.” This song grows and breathes too, and perhaps the most arresting section is just before the end when she repeats, “I want to believe.” “Marvelous Interlude” then continues that section, with the repetition of the line “I want to believe,” with some gorgeously layered vocals. That leads to the album’s final track, “This Is What Life Is All About” with Jordan on lead vocals. There is a wonderful warmth to his delivery. There is something incredibly endearing about this couple that comes across clearly in their music, and it would be difficult to not fall under their spell, a spell that they themselves have fallen under. “Of deeds of generosity, of jump-starting a car/Of pangs of curiosity, and a compassion from afar/Of messages left unanswered, of dreams dissolved in doubt/Names forgotten and remembered, this is what life is all about.” Toward the end, it takes on more power, but does not lessen in beauty.

CD Track List

1. There’s A Man On The Corner (Who’s Writing An Opera)
2. Back Around Again
3. Walden
4. Coming Home
5. WNDER
6. Marvelous Child
7. Marvelous Interlude
8. This Is What Life Is All About

Back Around Again was released on July 25, 2024.