Wild Pink return with ‘Dulling the Horns’ (out on 4 October via FireTalk Records). This release finds John Ross ruminating on what it takes to move forward, no matter what obstacles – or honours – life throws at you along the way…
Recent single ‘The Fences of Stonehenge’ opens the album with a swather of Cymbals Eat Guitars-style riffs and self-deprecating lyrics – ‘I’m still sick of all my shit’ – before ‘Eating the Egg Whole’ takes the record in a gentler direction, with John taking on the role of someone who feels a touch overwhelmed: ‘Sometimes a dream is not meant to be lived in, it’s meant to be forgotten’. ‘Cloud or Mountain’ is drenched in noise and feedback to start, which complement the troubadour style of storytelling: ‘Thoughts may become reality in moments of total clarity’.
‘Disintegrate’ has touches of Frightened Rabbit with added brass as John sings about being an angle before ‘Splinter Brown’ brilliantly veers into classic rock territory. complete with driving piano notes and the words: ‘You just let it be’. The title track is altogether scuzzier – ‘You slept too much and now you’re wired’ – with pummeling bass and stop-start riffs, while ‘St Catherine Street’ and ‘Catholic Dracula’ both flirt with chamber pop, the former with poignant lyrics – ‘Quitting drinking is like swimming away from land’ – and the latter with more orchestral tones.
The penultimate ‘Bonnie One’ may clock in under 2 minutes but has an all-encompassing sound that leaves you wanting more. The closing ‘Rung Cold’ has talk of trades with the devil and observations on the state of the modern world and its demands: ‘You think you’re free. You can never walk away’.
There’s nothing dull about ‘Dulling the Horns’. In fact, it’s quite the opposite and deserves plenty of fanfare.
