Emerging from the pandemic and into the music scene at full force, Woodrose, Villanova’s new indie rock band, has recorded and released two entire EP albums all within the past year. Alternative music lovers can find these records, “Woodrose” and “Woodrose++,” on Spotify and Apple Music – along with the single “I Can Only Dream.”

Woodrose’s sound honors many popular alternative and rock and roll groups, sharing its inspirations such as The Beatles, Bon Iver, The Strokes, Mac DeMarco, Radiohead, Neil Young, Frank Ocean and Bob Dylan, to name a few.

The band is composed of Villanova sophomores Michael Loparrino, more commonly known as “Lopo,” Seamus Daniello and Chris Cruz – all of whom play guitar and piano. In addition to these instruments, Lopo plays the bass alongside Daniello, who is the lead vocalist of the group. Cruz also sings on two tracks and co-writes with Daniello.

“We all met as freshmen,” Lopo said. “We all loved to play music together in the Good Counsel lounge, so it felt natural for us to become a band.”

However, with the pandemic cutting their freshman year short, the band members were forced to disperse across the country. Nevertheless, Cruz and Daniello were able to continue their collaborative songwriting while in lockdown.

“Our first EP was recorded entirely at our homes during quarantine,” Daniello said. “Chris and I would send recordings back and forth and call each other routinely to discuss the direction of the project. It was a very different approach to music creation but the most we could do during that time.”

Thus, in recognition of this unique process and in true “slow the spread” fashion, the cover of their latest album, Woodrose++, features the band members safely socially distanced against a wooded backdrop.

With the release of this second EP album, Daniello shares how he has grown as a songwriter and witnessed his process develop over the course of this past year.

“The less I think about writing songs, the better they come out,” Daniello said. “I used to write the music before the lyrics. Pretty much all of the first EP was written that way. Now, I feel like the lyrics should come first. The music is then inspired by the words.”

The pandemic has also thwarted Woodrose’s ability to perform its music live, something the band looks forward to with great excitement.

“We would love to play more gigs and want to really start practicing our songs once we release our new album,” Lopo said. “We plan on making it our best yet by having it professionally mixed and mastered. Hopefully next year we can play a lot of gigs and gain traction in the local scene.”

Woodrose has two parting messages for readers. First, it is looking to add a drummer into the mix, so reach out if interested. Second, Lopo excitedly shares that the band is working on a new project, set to come out Fall 2021.

“New music is on the way,” he said. “We’re gearing up for our next album cycle.”