On February 27, 2026- Wine & Warpaint released an intimate single “Superbloom/Supernova” that captures the euphoric emotion of desire and wanting someone in that aspect. The single is exhilarating and feels so personal at the same time that listeners will be able to resonate to it. “Superbloom/Supernova” is filled with passion and as you listen to the lyrics; it’s not too explicit, but its enough to be sensational and ignite excitement
Interviewer: For new fans; can you tell us more about the band? How did everyone come up with the band name?
Wine & Warpaint: “The band is essentially a solo project for the studio recordings – I play almost all the instruments and do the majority of the songwriting, and we are a five-piece band live. We won a worldwide Fender contest in 2021 where we were selected by a panel of music industry legends as one of the best unsigned bands in the world. For the band name, “wine” makes you think of civility, tradition, and the Christian idea of Eucharist (our first EP explored a lot of ideas around Christianity and deconstructionism). And “warpaint”, a practice used on every continent for centuries
in both functional and ceremonial ways, has always captured me in its juxtaposition of peace and brutality, art and aggression. So the combination “Wine & Warpaint” is all about where those ideas collide.”
Interviewer: “Superbloom/Supernova” is the band’s new single; Did any artists or genres influence this track to help with the creative process?
Wine & Warpaint: “This is probably the most straight-ahead pop-punk/post-hardcore song I’ve ever written. While it’s not nearly as heavy, I was definitely influenced by some of the biggest bands in that genre, mostly in terms of song structure and general aggression mixed with big accessible hooks: Beartooth, We Came As Romans, and The Devil Wears Prada. For my particular sonic blend of pop punkish alt rock, I have been really into the recent Grayscale and Games We Play albums. In Virginia, I have a killer community of songwriters in the folk and acoustic space, and I’m always inspired by their artistry and try to bring my lyricism to their level: Juniper Tree, Spectator Bird, Jake Sawyer, and Ebony Nicole, to name a few. A few more of my favorite bigger songwriters are Lorde, Brandie Carlilse, and Dustin Kensrue of Thrice, and they definitely influence my writing on this one as well.
Interviewer: Why did you choose this as your next release?
War & Warpaint: “When I flew from Richmond, VA to Los Angeles to work with Kyle Black (Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, New Found Glory), I had 10 finished demos that we listened
through. We identified about 5 as the strongest, and then from there kept coming back to this one. The relentlessness, the catchiness of the chorus, and the energy of the breakdown were all standout elements that made us want to hone in on it.”
Interviewer: What story or message are you telling with this track?
War & Warpaint: “It’s about sex and euphoria, and it talks about the role that physical intimacy can play in reconnecting, healing, and reinvigorating a relationship when things get hard. I’m married to my favorite person on the planet and have been joking that it’s a sexy monogamous anthem. It’s actually the first song I’ve ever written explicitly about sex, maybe due to a conservative Christian upbringing, maybe due to being distracted by other topics, I’m not sure. I told that to a buddy of mine who writes sexy RnB songs and he was shocked that it took me so long…I guess I’m a little shocked too.
“Superbloom/Supernova represents the clearest vision of where I am as an artist and what Wine & Warpaint is as a band. Working with Kyle Black on this one was crazy – we were more thorough and more meticulous than I’ve ever been – not to achieve perfection, but to achieve impact, intensity, and clarity. We kept saying we wanted to make decisions that make the song more relentless, and the end result is a no-holds-barred track that captures the beauty, intensity, and fire of a relationship, while also existing as a love letter to alt-rock music and all the power and beauty that comes with the genre.” – Lead vocalist, Brandon O’Neill