Though they managed to distill and even popularize post-rock’s driving intensity and dramatic dynamics for millions of households with their Friday Night Lights score (both the TV show and movie), Explosions In The Sky never quite managed to break into film music the way they’d always intended to until 2013, when they landed a string of movie soundtracks that included Prince Avalanche, Manglehorn and Lone Survivor.
The Wilderness, the band’s first record since those gigs, maintains the group’s signature sound but imbues its widescreen soundscapes with a newfound patience, exhibiting far more scope than the predictable “crescendo-core” of previous efforts, and sounds all the better for it. The closer, “Landing Cliffs,” might be the prettiest song Explosions In The Sky ever cut, while lead single “Disintegration Anxiety” rings with an urgency unheard since their 2003 breakout LP, The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place.
—Möhammad Choudhery
