130 Songs Written, Only the Campfire-Worthy Tear-Jerkers Survived on Remi Wolf's New Album 'Mud'

Before writing, Remi Wolf set herself a very specific standard: every song had to be playable on an acoustic guitar by a campfire, and it had to make you feel a knot in your stomach. "My first goal was that I had to be able to play every song on acoustic guitar around a campfire, and it still had to hit you right in the gut," she told NME. "Because of that, these songs actually ended up more confident in the end."

This marks the first time Wolf has deliberately taken a different path, following two funk-driven, party-ready alt-pop albums: 2021's 'Juno' and 2024's 'Big Ideas'. Her third album, 'Mud', drops this Friday (October 9) and was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York. Before heading into the studio, she was listening to Lucinda Williams, former War On Drugs member Kurt Vile, America (whom she calls "one of my favorite bands"), as well as Paul McCartney, Wings, and Neil Young. "There's a lot of acoustic guitar on this record, and also a lot of gritty electric guitar," she said.

Wolf has ADHD, and she mentions that she "hates repetition more than anything," not wanting any song to sound like another. This obsession led her to write about 130 songs for 'Mud', with only those meeting two criteria making the final cut: sounding "emotionally muddy," and achieving what she and her team call "SpongeBob Ascendance" — borrowing from the meme of SpongeBob floating up to heaven when he hears a divine song. "If a song didn't have both of those feelings at once, we didn't put it on the album," she said. "It's basically a muddy SpongeBob record."

The album's title comes from the song "Covered In Mud," which she finished midway through writing, and she describes it as the thesis statement for the entire record: "Mud is dirty, sticky, awkward, and gross, but there's a freedom in it. If you're out in the rain, or stomping around in the mud at a festival, you're free — all the social contracts stop applying. And mud comes from the earth, it's purifying, it's rich in minerals, it even exfoliates — there's a reason people go get mud baths. You get yourself dirty so you can come out the other side clean and refreshed. That's what this album is for me — I let out all the emotions that had been sitting inside me for a long time."

From a Broken Relationship to a Sobriety Journey That Started at 23

Everyone involved in this album is someone she trusts: regular collaborator Jared Solomon, longtime friend Jack DeMeo, and her friend and sister-in-law Gigi Grombacher. "I wanted to write these songs surrounded by people who feel like family to me, because playing guitar and singing with friends is when I'm happiest," she told NME. "Luckily, a lot of my friends happen to be really great musicians too."

Content-wise, Wolf admits the album deals with the longing and loss after the end of a relationship that wrecked her, as well as that feeling of being "disconnected from her own body" after years of touring. She mentions that she started her long road to sobriety at 23, and touring has always been hard for her — she used to rely on alcohol to get through the intensity of being on stage, under everyone's gaze, every single day. "Right before I started writing most of the songs on this album, I got sober again," she said. Tracks like "Bottle," "Champagne," and "Wine Drunk" are about her coming to terms with no longer drinking. She also mentions that "I Won't Cry" and "Guess" were moments where she "poured her entire soul out." With three singles already released — "Twiggy," "Bottle," and "I Won't Cry" — she's noticed fans responding on a deeper, more emotional level this time, rather than just treating them as pre-party hype songs. "This album is a musical sidestep, and trying something new is always scary," she said.

After a Cameo in 'Off Campus' and Sharing the Stage with Hayley Williams

Earlier this year, Wolf made a cameo appearance as herself in the Amazon Prime Video series 'Off Campus'. She admits she had never heard of the original book series when she got the offer — it was her 22-year-old sister, who had already read the entire series, who convinced her to take the role. A month later, she was in Vancouver filming with the crew. She describes the set as feeling like a tour, with "everyone moving like one organism," and said the crew was very welcoming. Asked if this has made her want to pursue more screen work, she said playing a Pixar animated character is her "dream."

Another moment that caught fans' attention was her debut performance of "Twiggy" alongside Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams earlier this year. Asked whether the two might head into the studio together, Wolf didn't hold back, saying "I would love that so much," describing Williams as an "absolute beast, a queen." Both of them are "big belters," and she really enjoys hitting high notes together with her. She said both of them are currently feeling things out while on tour, and once they're both settled back in Nashville or LA, "I feel like it's going to happen someday."

'Mud' is set for official release on October 9, and is now available for pre-order and pre-save.