EXCLUSIVE: wens Chats New Single “Breakfast at a Funeral”

Los Angeles artist wens is serving up heartbreak sunny side up on her new single, “Breakfast at a Funeral.” 

The anthemic track featuring singer/songwriter Sean Kennedy is about the relationships that were drawn out beyond their expirations. Wens and Kennedy’s unfiltered perspectives make the lyrics as relatable as our love for breakfast food. 

We chatted with wens about writing the single, her forthcoming EP, and more! 

What inspired your new single “Breakfast at a Funeral”? 

One day, Sean sent me a voice memo of this half written song and was like hey wanna finish this? And off the first listen, I immediately wrote my verse. It just came out so natural almost like I was responding exactly to what he had said. 

How did you first get connected with Sean?  

We met a few years back in the session mill of LA. We had a pretty off day and came out of it with nothing, but stayed in touch. I was always a fan of his and then March or April of 2020, one of us hit the other up and was like ‘hey wanna write on Facetime? I’m losing my mind.’ And then the start of a beautiful collaborative relationship blossomed. I also wrote my song “internet stalking” with Sean via Facetime one of those days. 

What was the writing process like? 

Pretty Frankensteined honestly! I recorded my vocals over Sean’s voice memo and then sent it back to him to see if he liked it and then I started producing over the voice memo. Then I sent that over to Ryan Raines (who I work on all my music with) and was like ‘hey wanna make this better?’ Then what he sent back just blew both of our minds. Then we finally got together in real life and finished it in a day. We each had an isolated relationship to the song before we finally came together on it which I think gives it such a broad spectrum of relatability. 

Do you have a favorite lyric from the song, and if so, why is it your favorite?

“And we used to dance on those same tile, now I can’t remember the last time you cracked a smile” just feels so visceral to me every time I sing it because that feeling is so heartbreaking – To have loved someone so much, but no longer be able to even share space with them without feeling horrible inside. BRU-TAL. 

If you could set fans up in the perfect place to listen to “Breakfast at a Funeral,” where would it be and would breakfast food be involved?

Definitely in a diner probably having a food fight with pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, hash browns, orange juice, maple syrup, all of it. 

What can fans expect from your upcoming EP? How has your music evolved since your previous EP, Lemoncholy?

I think with every release I’ve just gotten closer and closer to who I really am. The new EP is messy in a very grounded way, raw, not as polished and it’s painfully honest. Lemoncholy was me starting to navigate life as a young adult, constantly searching for a way to escape reality. Whereas, I feel like my newer stuff is me accepting reality and being like okay now what does this even mean still. I also experienced my first love heartbreak and had so many thoughts and feelings, it just wrote itself into a body of work.  

What can fans look forward to next? 

So much music you’ll be sick of me by the end of this year haha. Also, I finalllyyyyyy think it’s safe to say that I am going to be trying to play as many shows as possible. I can’t wait to connect with fans in real life again. I’ve missed it so much. 

What is one quote that you have heard or that you go by that you want to ECHO out to the world? 

My mom always tells me “wherever you go, there you are.” I’m the type of person who is constantly trying to do things and fill my time and go places as sort of an escape from just being alone with my thoughts, but when I remind myself of this quote, I’m reminded that you can’t ever truly run away from yourself. It’s important to remember that, I think even in times of discomfort.  

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