Explosions In The Sky: The Wilderness

Inner and outer space are fully explored.

Explosions In The Sky The Wilderness album cover

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Despite a name that suggests far more violence than is actually on show, Texan post-rockers Explosions In The Sky have fashioned an intriguingly lush album that may well stand as their best yet.

Though their trademark dynamics of rise and fall, and tension and release are firmly in evidence, there remains a mesmerising sheen throughout that’s utterly hypnotic.

Best experienced in a single sitting, this is a kaleidoscopic journey that’s gently ushered in by the pulsing sweeps of Wilderness that give way to Logic Of A Dream’s apocalyptic swells – a track that gloriously encapsulates their aesthetic – before coming back down to earth with the appropriately titled Landing Cliffs. Strap yourselves in – this is a real trip.

Julian Marszalek

Julian Marszalek is the former Reviews Editor of The Blues Magazine. He has written about music for Music365, Yahoo! Music, The Quietus, The Guardian, NME and Shindig! among many others. As the Deputy Online News Editor at Xfm he revealed exclusively that Nick Cave’s second novel was on the way. During his two-decade career, he’s interviewed the likes of Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Ozzy Osbourne, and has been ranted at by John Lydon. He’s also in the select group of music journalists to have actually got on with Lou Reed. Marszalek taught music journalism at Middlesex University and co-ran the genre-fluid Stow Festival in Walthamstow for six years.