Explosions in the Sky
The Wilderness

THE REVIEW

You always do the same stuff. Guitars intertwining and chasing each other, tear-jerking and melancholic melodies interspersed with explosions and reverbs in the classic format of modern post-rock by God Is An Astronaut, Mogwai, and so forth. Now, just like God Is An Astronaut did for "Origins," the Texan combo softens, refines the edges, takes weight off the guitars, broadens the horizons, and chisels the sounds, removing the fullness of guitars that in their ecstasy sometimes smelled of cloyingness and mannerism.

"The Wilderness" is the result of this attempt to "escape" from the printed replica of previous records. Already the predecessor, "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care," is deeply drowned in the sugar of the three guitars which instead here become more timid and retreat like children in front of what they do not know. The initial title track immediately clarifies this "lightening," and the same goes for the subsequent "The Ecstatics." There's a greater search for atmosphere at the expense of guitar overlays. But it must be said that if this attempt at change gives credit to a band that decides (perhaps finally) to vary, the result is muffled, unconvincing, almost as if this trend does not seem to belong to the band, except as a seed of something that might be in the future. "Tangle Formations" is probably the episode where this blend is most attractive, with its steady rhythm marked by Hrasky's drums. "Logic of a Dream" instead attempts the path of reverberated symphonicity reminiscent of film soundtracks: and this is the element to consider in this evolution of the band, which after "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care" has composed 3 soundtracks for 3 feature films of at least some media importance ("Lone Survivor"). Listening to "Losing the Light", the mood is closer to ambient than the long post-rock rides the group had accustomed everyone to. A sort of "musical background" that is inevitably the compositional legacy of a new approach influenced by the cinematic experience, while "Colors in Space" stands out as the most classic episode of the album.

The moment of truth has now arrived for EITS. "The Wilderness" is the simplest and at the same time the most complex CD ever produced by Michael James and company. Partially moving away from the dreamy and marked cracklings of the three guitars, the latest effort by the Texans is a multifaceted CD, of great studio work on sounds and silences, but which leaves the doubt of being an exercise in style rather than a real and successful evolution of the Explosions' sound.

1. "Wilderness" (4:36)
2. "The Ecstatics" (3:13)
3. "Tangle Formations" (5:34)
4. "Logic of a Dream" (6:37)
5. "Disintegration Anxiety" (4:11)
6. "Losing the Light" (6:02)
7. "Infinite Orbit" (2:37)
8. "Colors in Space" (7:14)
9. "Landing Cliffs" (6:17)