WYLDERNESS “Chet Chat”

Arriving as a third and final glimpse into their upcoming sophomore album, Wylderness have unleashed a scintillating new shoegaze cut: “Chet Chat”.

Boasting their knack for creating sprawling soundscapes and deeply textured instrumentals, Wylderness’ latest offering arrives as the band gear up to release their long-awaited second album ‘Big Plans For A Blue World’ (out 15th July, via Succulent Recordings).

Written when Marz of Wylderness experienced the full, frightening force of an earthquake while on a trip to Greece some years ago, the new track finds the singer and guitarist reflecting on what was a life-changing event and seeking to emulate the force of nature that reverberated through him that day. As Marz remembers:

“I was on the balcony of an apartment in Athens writing lyrics for this song when all of a sudden there was this enormous roar and the building started shaking. The earthquake lasted about 15 seconds but seemed like it went on forever. Everyone was fine thankfully and I wanted to write something about what had happened, but not make it too obvious and clunky, so it ended up being a bit cryptic.”

Echoing the raw sonic energy of a tectonic shift, “Chet Chat” ripples like an agitated seismic wave impacting the earth’s surface. From its sparse and seemingly tranquil beginnings, the track builds towards an immense crescendo as towering electric guitars, warped organ grindings and distorted rhythmic pulses stretch-out into a six-minute shoegaze epic that evokes the likes of DIIV, Spacemen 3 or Sonic Youth at their climactic heights.
Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios on a farm in rural Wales, and with wonky organ sounds added in by producer Rory Atwell, the enigmatic new track sees Wylderness further find themselves in their sound as they deftly forge their own cataclysmic and confident path on their second studio outing.

Alongside earlier singles including the fuzzy and frenetic “Centre of Gravity” and more polished and pop-tinted “Wet Look”, “Chet Chat” arrives as a third and final look into Wylderness’ long-awaited second album ‘Big Plans for a Blue World’ (due 15 July 2022, via Succulent Recordings).

Recorded between Andy Ramsay of Stereolab’s London studio and a farm in rural Wales, the release sees Wylderness build upon the foundations of their eponymous 2018 debut with an expanded lineup and a more complex approach to instrumentation, with the addition of vintage synths and clarinet.

With its title inspired by a fictional David Bowie song and a bizarre dream, vocalist and guitarist Marz says of ‘Big Plans for a Blue World’:

“I had a vivid dream that I was at a David Bowie concert in the mid 80s. Bowie walked on stage in a crisp blue suit and said: ‘this is a new song, it’s called “Big Plans for a Blue World”.’ The song was in the same vein as ‘Sledgehammer’ by Peter Gabriel — probably not up there with Bowie’s greatest work but it had a catchy chorus. I woke up and wrote it down, and started Googling to see if it was a real song by Bowie but nothing came up. We took it that this was meant to be the name for our new album.”

Combining dark and dreamy pop influences with stratified synths and barbed instrumentals, ‘Big Plans for a Blue World’ echoes the shoegaze garble of DIIV, Ride and Yo La Tengo, with a hint of Sonic Youth. From the lengthy Kurt Vile-inspired “Keep on Keeping” to the wonky and experimental instrumental “Warped” and the jagged spoken-word track “YLT vs VU”, Wylderness wear their influences on their sleeves as they wade through a melee of inspirations including second-hand Japanese books, Jack Nicholson films and real-life run-ins with drunk fans and unsettling earthquakes.

Finally set to arrive this Summer, the long-anticipated record comes as the band’s first in almost four years, and is a punchy and perspicacious follow-up to the band’s self-titled debut. Full of incisive guitar lines and misty dream-pop melodies, 2018’s ‘Wylderness’ amassed praise from the likes of CLASH, DIY and Drowned in Sound. The record was also championed by Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 Music) and Huw Stephens (BBC Radio 1), and was included in Radio 1’s Best of BBC Music Introducing.

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