For the last ten months layers of the debut album by Wildernesses have slowly been revealed. With each single a new aspect of the sensational album, Growth, have seeped into the subconsciousness and refused to shift. The thought that joined them was how absolutely perfect this album would be for Arctangent festival. The sun, the smell of freshly trampled grass, cold beer, lots of smiling people; that environment was made for this album and it is going to be great to witness it there. Even though aspects comfort in the winter, the spring and summer are shining a new light on the depth of this incredible multifaceted post-gaze album.
There are a few genres at play here and all interplay and interchange seamlessly. Opener ‘Sleepless’ is an insatiably good post-rock song and some of the guitar work throughout the album harks back to the minimalist feel of Explosions In The Sky at their peak. However, vocals are an incredibly important ingredient of the songs without being at all overbearing. The storytelling in places falls between the clarity of early Stereophonics and the more abstract energy of early Idlewild, but the delivery remains consistent in the wonderful vocals of Phillip Morris. Tracks such as ‘[dread]’ and ‘Four Hour Drive’ hit those summer spots with joyous, driven pace (sorry no pun intended) delivered in a delicious shoegazed indie rock tone which will flow down wonderfully in a live setting.
A highlight of the last seven months is the staggering ‘English Darkness’. This is a song so good that the album could make end of year lists even if the rest were lacking. The fact that the other eight tracks are just as impactful shows the depth to the quality produced here. In ‘English Darkness’ Morris narrates an approved mental health professionals call to deal with an individual who is posing a risk to themselves. The emotive guitar work, the lush vocals, perfectly supportive bass and drums and incredible vocal style creates a highlight, and for a melancholic song it offers a wonderful escape.
It would be remiss not to mention the execution in quality of the recording which highlights the consistent mastery of Joe Clayton. Everything is placed perfectly, even the sense of space between instruments has a weight and atmosphere that allows the mind to draw out the location where each member may have stood as they played. Growth is an album that impacts from the first listen and continues to evolve in impact as the lyrics unravel. There is a real uplifting sense to the melancholy with moments to cry, moments to laugh and even moments to dance. Growth will be reappearing in December near the top of the end of year lists, there is no doubt about that.
