From Midwest emo to SoundCloud rap to folk rock, Wicca Phase Springs Eternal (the project of Adam McIlwee) has worn many musical hats. Now, he’s announced a new album titled Mossy Oak Shadow – out September 19 via Run For Cover – which leans even further into the folk-rock direction hinted at in his more recent work.
Alongside the announcement, Wicca Phase Springs Eternal dropped two new singles from the upcoming album — “horseback” and “Enchantment” — both of which introduce the album’s new sonic palette. Check them out here:
McIlwee first made a name for himself in the emo scene as a member of Tigers Jaw, then pivoted into the SoundCloud rap world with the GothBoiClique collective, of which the late Lil Peep was a member, before launching his own project under the Wicca Phase Springs Eternal moniker.
Speaking on this next phase of the project, McIlwee said:
“I always kind of thought that as long as I have the Wicca Phase Springs Eternal name that I can do whatever I want. The name provides a framework for the lyrics and aesthetics of the project–my songwriting with a mystical overlay to it–and as long as I can make something work within that, then the genre doesn’t totally matter ... There’s always been acoustic songs on my records but usually they’re in the context of a beat-based Wicca Phase album. I think the idea here was to just kind of start fresh and go hard in this other direction. The temptation is to call it a country record. I don’t really think it’s that–but there’s acoustic guitar and slide guitar, and I think my interests and themes do have elements of country in sort of an archetypical way.”
The album notably includes a collaboration with Ethel Cain, billed as a duet between the two.

Mossy Oak Shadow is out September 19. Pre-order here. Full tracklist:
- Rough Roads
- Horseback
- Enchantment
- I Just Moved Here
- Magic Moment
- Meet Me Anywhere (feat. Ethel Cain)
- Looking Back
- I Get It
- Settler’s Bend
- Last Riders Crew
- I Was A Runner Once
What do you think?
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