Explosions In The Sky: The Wilderness

To them, enjoying Explosions In The Sky – perhaps the best known perpetrators in North America – is more or less on par with liking the Foo Fighters, for all of their broad-reaching appeal.

That said, the Texas natives have sought greener grass and roads less travelled on later albums, by and large pushing out the so-called ‘crescendocore’ that came to define modern genre classics like The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. The Wilderness marks their seventh LP, following on five years from the divisive Take Care, Take Care, Take Care.

Here, they hone in on a more restrained and minimal approach to their established sound, often washing away in drifts of keyboards or piercing strings. Opener ‘Wilderness’ sways into a hypnotic rhythm, building up through subtle dynamics as opposed to looming, impending release. ‘Disintegration Anxiety’, too, serves as one of their finest singular moments, bounding across a shuffled rock beat and ornately layering its triple-guitar arrangements.

Adventurous and inventive, The Wilderness works wonders in keeping this band an engaging, enticing prospect to listeners.