Currently comprised of founding members Dean Povinsky (lead vocals, guitar) and Dwayne Christie (drums), along with newer members Derek Bosonworth (bass) and Nick Greaves (guitar), Chris Dawe (keys), the Toronto, ON-based indie rock quintet Wildlife can trace their origins to when Povinsky along with guitarist Darryl Smith relocated to Glasgow, Scotland to form a band. Along with Scottish drummer Peter Kelly and fellow Canadian Billy Homes, the band spent time traveling, writing and recording songs and playing small venues around Glasgow; however that project split up with the Canadian members left Glasgow to return to Canada. Povinksy moved to Toronto with the intention of continuing Wildlife with childhood friend Plant, Christie and Julia Mensink (synths), along with Bosonworth to flesh out the band’s initial lineup.
Their full-length debut, Strike Hard, Young Diamond was released to critical praise from the likes of Exclaim!. Chart and others. After a series of lengthy tours across North America, which led to their first Top 10 hit single, the members of the band were also working on their first full-length album since 2013. “Dead Century” is the first single off that album, slated for release at the end of the year, and as the band explained to me in an email the song is about “moving forward through lost time; what it feels like to have one foot in an age that no longer exists, and coming to terms with having the other in a world you may never understand.” And as a result, the shimmering, moody and anthemic single produced by Tawgs Salter possesses a bittersweet sense of loss and confusion over what to do next, but underneath all of that a sense of time rushing past. Sonically, the song is incredibly contemporary and radio friendly indie rock as shimmering guitar chords, soaring synth chords, an anthemic hook you can hear kids shouting along and dramatic, propulsive drumming paired with plaintive and yearning vocals — and although aching, the song manages to have a sense of hope at its core.
