Led by Wolfgang Harte, rising London-based lo-fi outfit heavy wild just released their highly-anticipated Paolo Ruiu-produced debut EP Death Dreams.
Sonically, the EP sees the London-based lo-fi outfit blending elements of alternative rock, post-punk, garage rock, shoegaze, indie rock, lo-fi and grunge — and is a culmination of the project’s output date, as Harte explains: “I think having a running theme through any body of work is always important. I tend to write subconsciously and never really with a specific idea in mind so looking back through all these tracks and identifying what they’re really about has been interesting, discovering the themes that underpin my writing. There’s a couple of well-loved tracks on there but I’m excited for people to hear some new stuff too and see the direction it’s moving in.”
The EP’s first single “Wasteland” is a brooding whirlwind of a tune featuring shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars and distorted synths and driving rhythm section paired with remarkably catchy hooks and choruses and fuzzed out yet plaintive vocals. Sonically recalling a woozy mix of Interpol, Crocodiles, Grave Babies and others, the song explores themes of fractured relationships, arrests and suicide.
“Ultimately, it’s an optimistic track. It’s about going through dark times and finding a way to keep on going,” Harte explains. “I had a bassline [sic] that I was just playing on loop and I started writing, and this montage of stuff that had happened over the years was flooding my mind, and the energy of that bassline [sic] just kept dragging more stuff up. I guess it’s me sort of processing some of those situations and reflecting on it all. It’s about standing in the wreckage of life and saying fuck it… just gotta keep going.”
Harte cites Wavves, Beach Fossils, Small Black, Girls and Crocodiles as a big influence on him — and on the track. “On this track, I think I was really going back to that stuff that I loved as a teenager when I was first making music and trying to capture that frenetic sort of energy. I wanted the song to sound like it could fall apart at any moment,” Harte says.
The accompanying video is a mix of analog tape fuzz, kaleidoscopic filters and footage of the band in studio shot and edited in a way that evokes our uneasy, near apocalyptic moment.
