Bear Rinehart has never been one to shy away from soul-searching. Whether leading NEEDTOBREATHE through a catalog of emotionally rich anthems or stepping into his solo project, Wilder Woods, Rinehart’s songwriting has always stemmed from a place of raw vulnerability. But with Curioso, his third full-length release under the Wilder Woods moniker, it feels like he’s pulling back the curtain in a new way—one that invites listeners not only into the music but into the man behind it.
“I really do genuinely love this record, which I don’t say every time,” Rinehart shared during a previous conversation with RELEVANT. “I might be proud of it, but I might not love it.”
That level of honesty is exactly what marks the Wilder Woods project—both musically and personally. Curioso finds Rinehart leaning into soul-inflected grooves, cinematic strings and a sonic palette that feels more intimate, more daring and more liberated than anything he’s done before. Yet that same thread of gratitude and reflection that ran through NEEDTOBREATHE’s Caves continues here, woven into every track.
“I think that’s ultimately what relates to people, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do,” Rinehart said in a recent interview. “I think most artists are trying to have a connection with someone, and hopefully it’s inspiring to them. The phrase I use always is ‘the dark certainty,’ meaning the worst thing that we could do is to think that we have it figured out.”
That posture of wonder—of chasing something without trying to master it—is core to Wilder Woods.
“There’s a feeling of working it out as we go, but also not being embarrassed about the blessings of life,” he said. “One of my proverbs that I go back to is that the worst thing is to have something and not be able to enjoy it.”
Rinehart admits that Wilder Woods allows him to drop his guard in a way that’s refreshing.
“Yes, I think my guard is down with the Wilder Woods stuff, and that feels freeing,” he said. “But I don’t think I intellectually think about it very much. I think I’m chasing something that I feel and I’m allowing that to not be scrutinized.”
Instead of meticulously crafting around what might resonate with others, Rinehart is paying attention to what moves him.
“There’s very little feeling of trying to sell it,” he said. “That kind of magic, that all writers have a hard time describing, is something that I find by asking, ‘What makes you cry?’ I try to notice those things in life, and it’s sort of the same thing with the music.”
“It obviously could be joy, or it could be sadness. It could be thankfulness,” he added. “It comes from a lot of angles. Since I have kids, you see something that they do that’s really sweet, or that you’re proud of, and there’s a tear behind your eye that starts to well up. As simple and silly as it sounds, that’s kind of what I’m after.”
Curioso feels like the natural outgrowth of that kind of creative instinct—less about catharsis and more about connection. It’s a testament to how far Rinehart has come, not just as a musician, but as a person learning to be thankful, present and real.
“If you’ve ever been to a studio, it feels like a cave—no windows, 10 days at a time,” he said. “But the songs are about coming out of that cave. It’s important to do the digging. But now, we can actually enjoy the music.”
And for Rinehart, maybe that’s the most radical move of all—learning to love the music, not just endure it.
Curioso is out now on all platforms. And this time, Bear Rinehart wants you to not only hear the songs—but feel the freedom in them.
