2014 has seen British four piece Wild Beasts release one of the most acclaimed releases of the year, titled Present Tense the record has seen the band push their sound in a completely different direction. Reflective, intelligent, yet still incredibly accessible, Wild Beasts will be visiting Australia to tour the album and play Splendour In The Grass this month.
In celebration of the tour, the band’s guitarist and vocalist Hayden Thorpe has put together an eclectic collection of songs to soundtrack the Australian adventure, as he explains “Dirt Music by the Australian novelist Tim Winton is a great inspiration to me. His depiction of the strange, hostile beauty of the Australian outback and its reflections in his characters internal states plays out much like a song. These tracks act as my soundtrack to his book, evoking the sights and smells of the remote Australian wilderness.” For more info on the tour visit www.lanewaypresents.com.
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – ‘The Proposition #1’
“What gets me with this track is the swarming violin, like a plague of locusts, it chills me, a very powerful piece of music written almost with the drama of a soundtrack to an old western.”
Mogwai – ‘Hunted By A Freak’
“I love the claustrophobia and sense of impending doom. It begins all fragile and lilting then grows into something brutal and menacing.”
Oneohtrix Point Never – ‘Stress Waves’
“To me this piece of music sounds how heat waves appear to the eye on the horizon, constantly warping and shimmering. It is one my favourite pieces of music.”
Neil Young – ‘Helpless’
“Simply one of the best song writers of all time. I think he captures a sense of isolation and loneliness so beautifully. You can hear the sincerity and vulnerability in his voice. He never fails to move me. “
Aphex Twin – ‘Avril 14th’
“A beguiling piece of music, it has a stillness and clarity I associate with early mornings in the bush, a windless infinite sky, a softness before the sun begins to scold the earth.”
Philip Glass – ‘Opening’
“I find this track very emotional and narrative, despite being without voices, it feels like a reflective song, one which brings to mind an endless horizon.”
John Talabot – ‘Oro Y Sangre’
“I’m drawn to this track for its abrasive textures, it screams and blisters like the burning midday sun.”
Talk Talk – ‘Eden’
“Definitely a track for the forgiving desert night, a kaleidoscope of stars above an endless black.”
Luke Abbot – ‘Trans Forest Alignment’
“I love how the vivid synths in this track moan and below like the cries of a wild animal. It suggest speed and guile, something untamed.”
These New Puritans – ‘Organ Eternal’
“Organs Eternal takes me to the ocean, the riff falling over itself like a set of waves. The strings suggestive of something stirring in the deep.”
Steve Reich – ‘The Desert Music: First Movement’
“Provokes that intense and confused feeling when all bearings are lost, fear pitching and rolling in the stomach.”
Wild Beasts 2014 Australian Tour
Monday 28th | July Manning Bar, Sydney (18+)
Tuesday 29th | July Prince Bandroom, Melbourne (18+)
Tickets and info: www.lanewaypresents.com.
