Explosions in the Sky’s new record, The Wilderness, is the band’s most critically acclaimed collection in years—and for good reason.
According to Michael James, guitarist and bassist for the Austin post-rock outfit, the group approached the album with very deep intention, working hard to craft a subtler set of songs that would challenge both listeners and the band.
“I feel like we’ve taken a little bit of a step with this album just in the way we approach putting the emotion in the songs,” he says explaining that in the past, Explosions in the Sky have been very “heart on the sleeve” with the emotional heft of their music—using big major chords to indicate joy, diminutive minor keys to conjure sadness and sweeping crescendos to shout from the rooftops in ecstasy.
“We didn’t really want to do that with this album,” James says. “We wanted things to be a little more subdued.” Playing the role of unreliable narrators, the band put together arrangements that weren’t as obvious, leaving the listeners to sort things out. “To my ears these songs require a bit more patience and a bit more critical listening.”
And to the credit of listeners and music critics alike The Wilderness has been received extremely well. “I found that pretty encouraging and gratifying,” James says.
Released on April 1 this year, the group’s latest effort also proved a welcome challenge to the band, as they found themselves taking a “big leap” into largely uncharted territory by incorporating more electronic elements into their music than they ever have before.
“It’s the kind of thing where you start seeing it crop up in a lot of music,” James says, referring to the use of synthesizers. “You don’t want to just use electronic elements just to do it—just to try to appeal to people. We were worried it would look like that. But the truth is we just love that stuff.”
James says he and the rest of the band had fun tinkering with analog synths and computers when putting The Wilderness together. “For us it was a way to expand the sonic palate that we could use,” comparing it to the advent of the electric guitar more than half a century ago, noting that many guitarists balked at the electrified instrument at first. “The electric guitar has been used for many, many years, but it was new at one point.”
Listen to The Wilderness below, and catch Explosions in the Sky live at The Mountain Winery on Aug. 29.
