Wesley Dean is set to release his new album Music From Crazy Hearts , Friday April 26th, with the companion piece to an upcoming feature film, Crazy Hearts: The Documentary, which sees Dean hit the road with his family for an ambitious tour across America. With a director and cameraperson in tow, Dean and his family drove over 5000 miles from Nashville to Los Angeles in an RV via towns steeped in musical history playing shows off the beaten track; Memphis, New Orleans, Luckenbach, Marfa, Amarillo, Las Vegas, and more. The songs on Music From Crazy Hearts complement the soundscape to Dean’s own story of breaking the industry mold to carve out his name independently.
Along with the album’s release, Dean has also shared the neon-imbued music video for the country gospel track, “Mercy”.
Dean reflects on the album, “After a tumultuous landing in the US and string of challenges that left me wanting to quit the industry, I looked to the moon early one morning and prayed for the first time in my life, ‘God, have Mercy’. In that moment, I picked up my guitar and started playing what is now “Mercy” in its entirety, from start to finish, as you hear it today. It was one of those moments that music just flows without thought or conscious effort. It was an honest letter from the depths of my soul to God/Universe, whatever that means to you. That same morning, I also wrote the last song on the album, “Tomorrow”, which is fitting to think that they are now the bookends of the record.”
“Within a week I had written all the songs on the album, so I got together with my friend and producer, Justin Cortelyou, and through a twist of fate five days at RCA, Studio A were set. We recorded the ten songs live with very little overdubs. No autotune, no metronome, no studio tricks, just capturing a moment in time in one of the greatest rooms in musical history. For one incredible week I got to stand, sing and play where, Elvis, Dolly, Waylon, Willie, Stapleton, and so many more stood and recorded some of their most iconic music. It was a great honor just to be in the room, let alone cutting a record.”
“This album isn’t only my personal redemption, it’s an album for anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider, like they’ve been broken beyond repair, or have to fight for their authentic self to be seen. “Music From Crazy Hearts” is for anyone crazy enough to follow that tiny voice inside their heart while battling the voice inside their head against all odds and rejection, and even though they can barely see the light sometimes, muster the courage to keep believing in their dreams.”
In a glowing album review, music journalist Dana Miller writes: “From tip to stern the Music From Crazy Hearts pirate ship was destined to be a record for the road. Captured in just five flurried days at RCA, Studio A and conjuring timeless images reminiscent of Young Guns, Dean’s basaltic, corduroy-clad voice inhabits characters here like those first popularized in Gunfighter Ballads by Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash’s “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.” Though Dean draws effortlessly and intuitively from the archetypal well of the cowboy ballads that gave original rise to American country music, and Music From Crazy Hearts solemnly salutes both Marty Stuart and Buck Owens with its integrity-driven narratives, this is not just a horse of a different color, but one pointed in a completely different direction. Music From Crazy Hearts is an album full of stories that will cleave you in half, sung by a seeker’s voice that was designed to stitch you back together in a more self-sustaining style than you were wearing yourself before.”
Leading up to the album’s release Dean shared a number of singles including the radio edit of “Gunslinger” , exclusive to AUS/NZ audiences, which CountryTown called a “raw, road-ready cowboy anthem” and premiered the live acoustic version saying, “he conjures a blues soul that’s ancient and genuine, a spirit you don’t hear in singers all that often anymore”. He also released the band version of “Blood Brothers” worldwide, which Magnet Magazine called “an epic country-tinged rocker”. Other US focused singles were “Don’t Look Back” featuring Sarah Buxton, which Glide called “a gorgeous work of country-laced Americana that resonates with all of us”, and “Burn This House”, both of which attracted early attention from BrooklynVegan, Whiskey Riff, Holler and more.
After relocating from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2021 to pursue the natural evolution of his music into the country/Americana roots rock scene, Dean released his first album dedicated to the genre, Unknown (considered for a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album), and has quickly followed up with Music From Crazy Hearts, a dynamic musical journey deftly weaving the depth of artists like Cash and Dylan with a contemporary psychedelic cowboy vibe.
Dean was previously known and loved as the Australian Idol winner ‘Wes Carr’ of platinum single, You, and gold selling album, The Way The World Looks , fame.