Ears Wide Open: WENS

Kevin Bronson on February 8th, 2021

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Songwriting prodigy WENS was earning credits while she was still in high school — imagine being 16 years old, standing in Coachella’s Mojave Tent, hearing an artist perform a song you co-wrote. That happened when she witnessed Ryn Weaver’s set in 2015. All before WENS — born Giana Shabestari and reared in Manhattan Beach — was old enough to legally have a cocktail, her fingerprints were on songs by Louis the Child, AlunaGeorge, Shallou, Steel Bangelz, Madison Beer and Martina Stoessel.

She earned attention in 2016 for her debut single “Bones,” which recalled Lorde, dialed down, and has satiated playlist-makers and alt-pop algorithms with a bunch of singles and EPs since. Last year, it was the EP “Lemoncholy,” highlighted by the lead track “Tongue Tied,” one version of which is a nod to how her parents — her Iranian immigrant father and Italian-American mother — first met, in the line at the DMV. (Her nom de tune WENS, meanwhile, is an homage to the Wednesday Addams character on “The Addams Family,” an old TV show her mother introduced her to.)

WENS’ spare, melodic creations rarely rise above vaporous — as with other dark-pop artists, they are more “ached” than sung — but they are nothing if not relatable. On her new single “Internet Stalking,” she teams up with singer-songwriter Adam Melchor, a connection she made (you guessed it) on the internet. She contacted Melchor on Instagram, pitching the feature.

“This song is about stalking someone you used to be with on the internet and wondering how they’re doing without you and if they’re also lurking you, too,” WENS says. “I know that sounds insane, but breakups in the 21st century sort of have that effect on people.”

||| Watch: The video for “Internet Stalking”