THE WILDERNESS

The new album from Explosions in the Sky is disappointing for a number of reasons. First of all, on this album they jettison the instrumentation that made them so unique (3 electric guitars/sometimes bass, and drums) and the intricate counterpoint of the guitarists playing repeated lines up the register that made albums like 'The Earth is Not a Dead Cold Place' (TEINACDP) so memorable, and which set the pattern for what I think of as the EITS 'sound' (that album stands for me as their ultimate musical statement. Most of that is gone here. Instead, we have a lot of washy synthesizers, with some repeated patterns but much more simplistic compositions, and often electronic-sounding drums. Secondly, the dynamics have been significantly reduced - no more going from quiet as a whisper to full-tilt crush like on their earlier albums. Instead, we have a bunch of mellow snapshots that either remain at a constant volume, or start quiet and build only slightly. Finally, the compositions are not memorable. This is background elevator music. I think the time they have spent composing for movie soundtracks has affected their judgement on this release. Indeed, this could easily be a collection of movie soundtrack outtakes being presented as new band material. On the whole, none of the music is 'bad' or off-putting. It is just so neutral, arousing very little emotion. I have listened to this five times now, and I find it does not stand up to multiple listens, just gets more boring with each listen (I always make a point of listening to an album multiple times before I review it, as often the degree of musicality only becomes evident once one is familiar with the music). Go for their earlier albums (especially TEINACDP) if you want to explore this band. I give this 3.8 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to 2 PA stars. (The cover art is great though, so it has that going for it).