We were there to do an interview or maybe meet someone in an official capacity, but the meeting was on a higher floor and there was no elevator, only this spiral staircase. Paris, 2008 - One day we wandered into this Parisian building. We had to have it towed and to this day we still can’t fully explain what happened. When we reached the “top” of the hill, the van’s engine sputtered and coughed and a plume of black smoke poured out from under the hood. Very slowly the van started rolling backwards “up” the hill. He instructed us to drive “down” to the bottom of the hill, stop, and then put the car in neutral. The reason it was called that was because this particular road provided a truly remarkable and spooky optical illusion where the roads and hills played strange tricks on your eyes.
Maryland, 2001 - Our friend Drew took us down some old country road to a place called Spook Hill. I remember that we were all pretty tired by this point and the gate sign that read Austin brought all of us a little jolt of joy in that we were almost home. Thanks and enjoy.ĭetroit, 2005 - This was on a layover at the Detroit Airport as we were headed back to Texas from Europe. We found the results visually stimulating while listening to the songs and hope you do as well. We collaborated with design studio CHIPS on a project to add strange movement to a batch of nine still photographs taken by Munaf over the last 17 years. It has been five years since their last studio album proper, and with The Wilderness, Explosions In The Sky have created something very special indeed.Scenes from the Wilderness is a visual companion to our new album, The Wilderness.
By turns hopeful, despondent, life-affirming and exhausting, it leaves room for individualised interpretation. It is an album of abstract notions which invites contextualisation from the listener. The Wilderness is an album concerned with space, and as the final piano chord of light and silky closer Landing Cliffs rings out and the drums come to a stop, you are left with nothing-but. Tangle Formations seems to resemble the work of Jaga Jazzist with its cinematic amalgamation of piano, brass and vibrant drums, while Disintegration Anxiety’s frenzied math-rock guitar mutes have a faint tinge of early Battles about them. Some explorations even see the album veering towards the terrain of other artists.
Their soundtrack work has undoubtedly been a major factor in encouraging EITS to augment their sound, and has certainly opened things up for them here. The guitar on the album is skilfully counterbalanced with other instruments and textures, providing a complexity of flavour within which discreet electronica and innovative ancillary percussion are the salt and pepper. It is a dumbfounding piece of music which defies indifference its initial soaring beauty abruptly nosedives into a disconsolate funk, before calm is restored and delicate guitar notes and sunny drums airlift the listener to a safer place. Take the track Logic Of A Dream, which lulls you into a warming reverie with its subdued guitar intro, then abruptly opens the door to a blast wave of piano, synth and strings. The Wilderness is in some ways a logical maturation of the Explosions sound, and yet upon first listen it does take you by surprise, such is its scope. This solemn, dignified passage fades into a warm, expectant lull, and then – in the most exhilarating way –momentum makes an impassioned return. A brief pause, and the whole thing is in motion the remaining drums awaken as noble piano chords are followed by the sustained crackle of distorted percussion. A distant tambourine is joined by the tender hit of a snare, and the first suggestion of a guitar.
After a tentative start, a gentle and contemplative melody begins to emerge. The title-track is a natural history filmmaker’s dream. In particular, the use of low piano notes gives the album a depth and fortitude that permits the music’s emotional core to resonate more fully than before. This is largely due to the inclusion of more low and mid-range tones. The album is texturally different from its predecessors, and feels much more sober. The album explores the concept of the unknown, via the band’s own conceptualisations of space both inner and outer. Their seventh release excluding works for film, The Wilderness is exquisitely well judged. Put Explosions In The Sky on in the background, and balling your socks will seem like the most fragile, human action you have ever performed. Their songs are imbued with a narrative aura that structures and organises, and which is capable of lending dramatic significance to even the most mundane of activities. While Explosions In The Sky’s soundtrack work has seen them create music tailored for drama, their non-soundtrack work continues to have the ability to inspire drama to accompany music.
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