Folk-rock band, The Wild have stormed into the music scene with a smooth blend of just about every kind of music genre you can think of. Speaking out against political issues and writing songs from the heart is what they’re all about. Dreams Are Maps, their latest release and memorial to a friend they lost, is a powerful album that’s definitely worth a listen.
Substream Magazine: Listening to your music, you have a lot of different genres kind of wrapped into one, so what would you guys describe your music as?
The Wild: We kind of think of ourselves as kind of a folk-rock band. We incorporate different elements of folk music and rock and roll, even some bluegrass, but we do it with the essence of punk rock.
SM: You guys write personal and political songs. Not many bands write political songs, is there a certain goal that you hope to achieve when you write them?
TW: One of our goals is to just try to figure out what’s going on in the world as far as all of the terrible stuff occurring. It’s one thing to make a commentary about everything; it’s another to place yourself in it. The idea is that we do have a personal say in the political world.
SM: You guys just shot a music video before you left for tour for your song “Dreams Are Maps”. Can you give any insight about that?
TW: Yeah, we’ve never actually had a real music video before. We’ve always done like live videos or videos of us playing the song. It was crazy for us to kind of act through the whole thing. We think it turned out really cool. It’s basically Whitt and Diana trying to escape the city life and we’re trying to connect in a coffee shop. We’re just trying to make an escape. I don’t want to give away the ending, but the concept is to always follow your heart, your dreams and passions. Just overcome anything during your day that bums you out.
SM: You’ve said the album was a memorial to your friend. What made you chose to write an entire album in memory of your friend?
TW: We wrote it as a memorial to a friend we lost a couple years ago. We thought that the best way to honor him was to do what we love; we felt it would be the best way to keep his memory alive. Losing a friend is a platonic experience. The way we moved on was to write music, and it’s really cool because this is something that’ll stick around forever.
This album is their most powerful yet, written as a memorial to a friend they had lost, it is one anybody can enjoy. “There’s A Darkness” starts off the album and captures one’s attention until the album closes with “Come Home.”
Dreams Are Maps pulls bits of just about every music genre and brings it together in a way that isn’t heard often, yet it works, leaving you anxious to hear more. The track titled “Dreams Are Maps” will leave you feeling refreshed and inspired to take on anything the world tries to throw at you.
Although this album all around is pretty well done, certain songs such as “Cut From The Cloth” are very short; once the listener just starts to really appreciate the song it ends abruptly, as it is only about one minute long.
Overall, this album is a great memorial, one that is sure to capture one’s attention and leave an everlasting impression. Their raw sound and guy-girl vocalization is something everyone can appreciate. Without a doubt, The Wild is about to capture a place the hearts of anybody who listens to Dreams Are Maps.
3/5 stars
Review and interview by Erin Stevens
