Explosions in the Sky (EITS) is one of the most emblematic post-rock bands, and for good reason, their lengthy instrumental pieces with little more than guitar, bass, drums and piano are in the end a perfect example of rock ‘deconstruction’ and what it means to use rock instrumentation to make music that goes beyond its limitations. The place EITS occupies within the subgenre is so crucial that probably 90 per cent of underground post-rock bands that came after them sound like pale imitators. The place Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever and The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place have in the post-rock canon is undeniable.
It isn’t surprising that the band slowly grew tired of their own sound and decided to take a few chances at changing things. The first change came from their fourth and fifth albums (The Rescue and All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone) where song lengths got shorter, without abandoning the epic format (some songs go further than the seven or eight-minute mark), and the songwriting became a bit more experimental. Then came Take Care, Take Care, Take Care with its poppy first single (Trembling Hands, adding wordless voices to the mix) and even rhymical patters closer to traditional pop and rock in its closer, Let Me Back In.
Still, true change came along with The Wilderness. Feeling like the ‘less EITS’ album of their career, it still seems like the next logical step for the band. Change is noticeable since the first seconds. Electronic beats introduce us to an album plagued with synthesizers and programmed percussion that sound warmer than what we could expect. It’s appropriate that the opener is the title track. In its four minutes, Wilderness defines the album it names, all by itself.
Song length is a clear indicator of change. Only four of the nine songs go further than the six-minute mark, with only one of them being more than seven minutes long. The Wilderness is a rhythmic, noisy album, and while EITS-style guitars are still present (adding texture and melody, but surprisingly also rhythm), pianos and synthesizers are the main event in this 46 minutes of music.
The rhythmic role of guitars is noticeable on first single, Disintegration Anxiety, properly evoking its name. It’s one of the most ‘aggressive’ songs the band has done, at times reminding us of the intense moments of Have You Passed Through This Night?, a song from their second album. Noisy synthesizers and samples are central to this track, being one of the more experimental ones EITS has done too. Glitchy beats remind us of 65daysofstatic or God Is an Astronaut, other crucial post-rock bands that have previously delved into the fusion of the genre with electronica.
Tangle Formations exists between the abrasive sound of Disintegration Anxiety and the traditional sound of previous albums. The old EITS shine through some of the mini-epics here, though elements of ambient, electronic and experimental music bleed through Logic of a Dream and Colors in Space, while Losing the Light is the most out-there of the bunch, being almost entirely ambient, almost like a videogame soundtrack song. Electronic percussion and synths make up most of the song, with a reverb-laden piano being the only element that sounds vaguely melodic.
Album closer, Landing Cliffs, is one of the warmest and more organic songs in the album. Opening with a mixture of synths, organs, sampled pianos and textured guitars (with a lot of e-bow) everything points towards another ambient song. Suddenly, a repetitive piano figure emerges, quickly being accompanied by a lovely acoustic guitar.
If this song were in another EITS album, it probably would have ended in an outstanding climax, full of noise or euphoric guitar melodies, but here, it moves at its own pace, dissolving into a beautiful folk-ish sound. By the time the drums get in, the soft playing of piano and guitar is all there is left. It is an almost subdue ending, softer and calmer than what the band usually does, with So Long, Lonesome from All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone being closest in spirit, though this one feels even more nostalgic.
The Wilderness is a solid album, one of the best EITS has released and probably their best since The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place, at least for its willingness to experiment and bravery searching new paths for the band. Still, it feels very transitional, as the band retain enough elements from their own, previous sound, that it isn’t a complete starting over. And it might be for the best, as they preserve what made them great to begin with and are getting rid of what wasn’t working anymore.
Being able to adapt and change without losing identity shows the band has matured and are on the perfect spot to keep changing. On the back of their previous six albums, this one shows it’s the start of a new era, one that seems will be worth listening to.
