Nina Winder-Lind's 'Wild Love' Is a Grateful, Ferocious Art-Rock Debut
Nina Winder-Lind's solo debut is a textural art-rock record that explores girlhood and gratitude with ferocity. The Swedish songwriter, known for her work with the New Eves, channels influences like Viv Albertine into songs that celebrate every sensation, from pain to joy. The album's centerpiece, 'Foremothers,' uses electric guitar as a symbol of generational connection.
Winder-Lind's debut arrives on Transgressive Records following her tenure with Brighton's New Eves, a group known for experimental folk-rock arrangements. The album's nine tracks weave together guitar, cello, and keyboard textures, with "Foremothers" standing as the emotional anchor—a tribute to the matrilineal line that enabled her artistic path. The record also nods to rock history through its title choices, including "Street Hassle," which borrows its name from Lou Reed's 1978 album, and "Grandma and Robert De Niro," which evokes both personal memory and cinematic Americana.
Reviewer Grace Robins-Somerville positions the album within a lineage of women redefining rock's conventions, tracing a direct thread from Albertine's 1970s punk breakthrough to Winder-Lind's present-day approach. The songwriter's vocal delivery—described as ragged and physical—carries much of the record's emotional weight, particularly on tracks like "Girls" and "Headfirst," where gratitude for feeling itself becomes the album's central thesis.
This debut may resonate strongly with listeners who feel alienated from mainstream rock's masculine conventions, offering a model of the genre that centers intergenerational female experience. The album's celebration of emotional intensity—including pain and grief—could provide validation for audiences seeking art that treats vulnerability as strength rather than weakness. By explicitly honoring foremothers like Albertine, Winder-Lind may also encourage younger musicians to explore their own artistic lineages, potentially broadening who feels entitled to pick up an electric guitar and claim rock as their own.