Tuesday, April 5th, 2016

Artist: Explosions In The Sky

Track: “Landing Cliffs”

Explosions In The Sky isn’t exactly a band that strikes joy into the heart of every post-rock aficionado anymore, and it has nothing to do with the band’s talent level.  After all, nobody questions that these guys can play, and some of the crescendos that they’ve crafted over the years will stand tall as historical examples of the heights to which the genre can aspire.  The problem, recently anyway, has been a perceived lack of imagination.  It seemed that following The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place, each successive release was merely a retread of that incredible experience – only with diminished satisfaction for every additional time we heard sparkling guitars, clashing cymbals, and earth-shattering drums.  It was quite simply time for a change, and even though basically any change would have sufficed, The Wilderness presents us with a road that is both less traveled and far more scenic than the one we’ve watched them retread for approximately ten years.  In an album full of brooding ambience and eclectic stylistic ambition, ‘Landing Cliffs’ feels like the perfect ending to a record that, at this point in Explosions’ career, has the potential to be groundbreaking.  The song feels like a breath of new life, shimmering with gorgeous piano notes while pirouetting in a light, spacey atmosphere that is immersive but not oppressive.  The beauty of the actual wilderness will come to mind immediately: water rushing over a pristine cliff, clouds rolling across the sky, their shadows marking the ground like puppets in a play – it’s simply breathtaking.  When hearing ‘Landing Cliffs’, it feels like you’re experiencing so much more than sounds tossed together on a musical canvas.  It’s like you’re truly living, transported from your cozy quarters to somewhere far away and more beautiful than you could ever imagine.

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