Album Review: Wild Child - End Of The World
A soulful, dramatic and wild ride
Following 2018’s “Expectations”, the members of Wild Child felt that the band had run its course. After four studio albums, over 100 million streams on Spotify alone, a top-10 hit on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and over ten years of touring, founding members Kelsey Wilson and Alexander Beggins naturally felt called to new paths. In Wilson’s case, that meant joining vocal supergroup “Glorietta” and debuting the eclectic, Motown and neo-soul inspired solo project “Sir Woman”. For Beggins, it was “CoCo Zandi” - a collection of songs reminiscent of ukelele-driven, 1950s Hawaiian and exotica records. For many, though, 2020 brought about a change of plans. As the COVID pandemic surged and demanded change from the music industry, Wilson and Beggins regrouped and redoubled their efforts in songwriting and virtual performances. In a period of tragedy and uncertainty, Wild Child regained its old spark.
Born out of the duo’s pandemic-period songwriting, the Austin-based ensemble prepares to release its fifth studio album, “End Of The World” via their newly founded label Reba’s Ranch Records on March 31.
According to Beggins, "It felt like our very first record, when the two of us wrote a bunch of songs while on tour for someone else. There wasn't any aim to do anything with those songs at the beginning. For the first time since then, that's how we started writing these songs. We didn't know if we would make another record. It just came together."
Despite being the band’s fifth record, “End Of The World” brings with it a number of firsts. The band is no stranger to collaboration – having worked with notables such as Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie), Scott McMicken (Dr. Dog), Chris Boosahda (Shakey Graves). However, this album marks Wild Child’s first direct collaboration with a songwriter: more specifically, the esteemed songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Calvin Abney. In April, the band is also kicking off its first full-band, US tour since before the pandemic.
From start to finish, the album is dramatic and captivating, radiates warmth like the Texas sun and overflows with authenticity, intimacy, and soul. Beautifully charming, stripped-down instrumentation, smooth vocals and memorable songwriting became staples for Wild Child after previous releases like “Going In” and “Sinking Ship”, and there are plenty of these elements to be found on the new record. The signature acoustic guitars and layers of Wilson’s soulful, expressive vocals make a welcomed reappearance on most tracks, usually supported by drums, electric bass, B3 organ and a handful of vintage keyboards. Wild Child has fleshed out its folky ballads with extra instrumentation in the past, but this time it feels different – bigger than the band itself, and larger-than-life. “Cheap Champagne” is the first song with this particular musical trick up its sleeve. From a whimsical keyboard, acoustic guitar and vocal intro, the song slowly builds tension and unravels a dramatic orchestration of cinematic soul with strings, horns, piano, bass and drums. In contrast to these full-band moments, handfuls of tiny details come and go in every song, weaving together an intricate sonic fabric for each. A few Mellotron notes here, an unconventional guitar lick there, the experimental warbles of a synthesizer – these many musical interjections make each song an interesting conversation worth revisiting. What’s more, pedal steel drenched in clouds of reverb, jangly single-coil guitars and a fat, analog warmth give the album a distinctly Texan sound shared by artists like Khruangbin and Tenci.
The title track, a 90s power-pop-inspired blazer reminiscent of a great jam session, is quirky, driving and burning up with cabin fever. Written by Wilson and her friends while stuck inside during the deadly 2021 Texas Freeze, the track is all about contemporary dangers and how these issues can influence our lives and make us paranoid. According to Wilson, "I just started singing about things that were freaking me out. Wearing a mask for a year. Global warming. There's no heat, no water,” she explained. “It was like a dirge to begin with. But by the end we were all screaming and laughing that, yes, this might be the end of the world, but we're all together right now, making music in my living room by candlelight. It's all okay."
The recordings are full of life and color, evoking a close feeling as if the musicians were playing in a show in your room. Matt Pence’s mixes are present, creative and outstanding, giving every minute detail its own space and time to shine.
From the funky, indie-dance of “Ride With Me” to the beautiful, subdued and serious ballad “Wearing Blue”, the album is cinematic, dramatic and full of character. “End Of The World” is everything a new Wild Child album should be and more.
Check out “End Of The World”, out March 31 via Reba’s Ranch Records
Check out tour dates for the Spring 2023 US Tour
