: ' .. .:.... . ' ' ______________ : ________ : ' \ / .. .:. .. \ / : : \ /_________ \ / . .. ... .. . : .\ / /___ /\ \ / ______________ ___ _. : \ / / \ / \ \/ / \ \ \ \ \ . ...:..\ / _______/ \/ \ ___/__ / / / / / : /\ / / \ \/ \ / / / . sH! ' / \/ / / / \ / / . ... .:.... .. . :/ _______/ / / / _______/__ ___ __ .\ / / / / / / / / / / / \ / / / / / / / / / / / . . \ /\______/ / / / / \___ / / : \/ ____ \ / / / / / : \ / \ /\____/\ / / : : ________\/ \ / \ / / : ' \ / \/ \ /\ / : . ..:.. . \ / \/ \ / \ / \ / . ' : \/ F A N G \ / : ' ____ \ / . . .. .. .:.. . \ / presents \ / . . \/ \/ : : . ..:.. , : Artist......: Wild Pink : Album.......: A Billion Little Lights : : Label.......: Royal Mountain Records .. .:.. . Genre.......: Indie : Catnr.......: RMR-133-2 . ' Source......: CD , ; Rip.date....: 2021-02-26 Str.date....: 2021-02-19 Quality.....: 264kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo . :.. .:. Url.........: http://wildpink.bandcamp.com ' ' , ________ ________ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / # title time \ / \/ \/ 1. The Wind Was Like A Train 2:38 2. Bigger Than Christmas 5:04 3. The Shining But Tropical 4:51 4. Amalfi 4:16 5. Oversharers Anonymous 4:50 6. You Can Have It Back 3:23 7. Family Friends 3:53 8. Track Mud 4:23 9. Pacific City 3:58 10. Die Outside 4:01 ______ \ / ________ Runtime 41:17 ,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 82.26 ______ :\/ ', \ / , \ / ' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /. : Release Notes: \/ , \/ , ' ' ,: Wild PinkÆs last album, 2018Æs Yolk In The Fur, concluded with a :, : song about the strange sense of relief that comes with ôletting : :' go of youth.ö Frontman John Ross, then in his early thirties, ': ,: was singing from a place of newfound comfort and wisdom, but it :, : ended with a repetition of the line, ôI donÆt know what happens : :' next.ö The song, titled ôAll Some FrenchmanÆs Jokeö, is a ': ,: beautifully concise rendering of a universal milestone: leveling :, : up from the wide-eyed naivety and self-destructive routines of : :' our youth, only to realize that weÆre as unprepared for the ': ,: future as we were for the past. :, : : :' On Wild PinkÆs third album and first for Royal Mountain ': ,: Records, A Billion Little Lights, Ross explores that dichotomy :, : of finally achieving emotional securityùof accepting the love : :' and peace he deprived himself of in his twentiesùwhile also ': ,: feeling existentially smaller and more directionless than ever :, : before. The record is a two-pronged triumph: an extraordinary : :' reflection on the human condition presented through the ': ,: sharpest, grandest, and most captivating songs Wild Pink have :, : ever composed. : :' ': ,: The band, which is rounded out by bassist T.C. Brownell and :, : drummer Dan Keegan, formed in New York City in 2015 and put out : :' a handful of EPÆs before releasing their critically acclaimed ': ,: self-titled debut in 2017. It was a sophisticated showing for a :, : bandÆs first album, but it was the striking maturation of Yolk : :' In The Fur that established Wild PinkÆs unique sound: a ': ,: glistening variety of pastoral indie-rock akin to The War On :, : Drugs, Death Cab For Cutie, and Kurt Vile, but informed by : :' classic American rock poets like Bruce Springsteen and Tom ': ,: Petty. The album received glowing praise from Pitchfork (a score :, : of 8.1), Billboard, NPR, Stereogum, and Uproxx, the latter : :' deeming them ôone of indieÆs best emerging bands.ö ': ,: :, : Even though Wild Pink were operating within the relatively : :' modest world of contemporary indie-rock, critics likened them ': ,: to the types of revered rock auteurs who rack up Grammy :, : nominations. So for A Billion Little Lights, they actually made : :' that leap. The record was produced, mixed, and co-engineered by ': ,: producer David Greenbaum, whoÆs worked with the likes of Beck, :, : U2, Cage The Elephant, and Jenny Lewis. Like all Wild Pink : :' records, the songs were entirely written and arranged by Ross, ': ,: who shaped them into high-quality demos over the course of a :, : year in his new home in New YorkÆs Hudson Valley. But unlike : :' previous Wild Pink albums, Ross enlisted a deep bench of ': ,: session musicians and friends to perform a litany of additional :, : instruments, finally granting RossÆs musical visions the space : :' and sonic resources they needed to achieve their finest forms. ': ,: :, : : :' The ten songs on A Billion Little Lights are adorned with ': ,: fiddles, violins, wurlitzers, saxophones, accordions, pedal :, : steel guitars, and a variety of richly textured synths and : :' keyboards. In addition to the instrumentation, Julia Steiner of ': ,: the Chicago band Ratboys provides beautiful harmonies throughout :, : the record, her soft voice recalling the friendly glow of a : :' porch light when it switches on behind RossÆs dusky coo. On ': ,: past records, RossÆs breathy delivery rarely raised above a :, : hushed murmur, but here he sings with a melodic confidence that : :' makes songs like ôPacific Cityö, ôDie Outsideö, and ôThe ': ,: Shining But Tropicalö some of the catchiest, most anthemic cuts :, : in the Wild Pink catalog. The band have never sounded dated or : :' nostalgic, but the lingering twinge of Americana in their sound ': ,: has always given their songs a familiar, classicist resonance. :, : On A Billion Little Lights, there are little details like : :' speckles of auto-tune, flashing synths, and even trip-hop-esque ': ,: drum loops that subtly yet effectively rebuff the notion that :, : Wild PinkÆs music yearns for a bygone era: the album sounds at : :' once timeless and unmistakably modern. ': ,: :, : That sonic quality is a fitting complement to the albumÆs : :' lyrics, which see Ross caught in the bramble between his past ': ,: and his present; feeling suffocated by the repetition of life :, : while simultaneously gazing at the stars above and marveling at : :' the unquantifiable vastness of it all. ôTime spreads like ': ,: Jasmine on a fence / Always behind, I can let go but IÆm still :, : always behindö he sings on the shimmering ôBigger Than : :' Christmasö. On the sprightly folk-rocker ôYou Can Have It ': ,: Backö, he cheekily sizes up his flaws (ôEverybody laughs easily :, : / ThereÆs something wrong with meö) and outwardly admits, ôNever : :' figured out how to live / Just dreaming all the time.ö ôFamily ': ,: Friendsö and ôTrack Mudö are musings on day-to-day stasis: :, : ôEvery day is GroundhogÆs Day nowö he sings in the former, while : :' lamenting about being ôlost in anxious thoughts againö in the ': ,: latter. :, : : :' However, itÆs the final two songs, the recordÆs musical ': ,: standouts, that offer a tepidly hopeful counter to those periods :, : of despair. In ôPacific Cityö, Ross sings about barely being : :' able to recognize the person he once was, a self left behind ': ,: once he shedded self-hatred (ôFor every little thing about :, : myself I couldnÆt changeö) and learned to ômake hay while the : :' sun shined.ö ôAnd you deserve the good things thatÆll come to ': ,: you / You just need a little roomö, goes its hook. ItÆs unclear :, : whether that ôroomö is a reference to his literal relocation to : :' rural upstate New York, or a metaphor for emotional space, but ': ,: either way ôDie Outsideö is all about making it. With a :, : stadium-sized hook and the rhythmic swing of a two-ton pendulum, : :' Ross calls to ôlet every wall come downö with a windswept ': ,: sing-song of a delivery, a barnraiser of a hook. :, : : :' Whereas Yolk In The Fur ended with an admission of utter ': ,: uncertainty, this album ends with a more conclusive observation: :, : ôYour blood is like ocean water.ö ItÆs an almost soothing : :' acceptance of our primordial nature, that like the ancient ': ,: water of the sea or the billions of little stars above, weÆre as :, : much a part of something greater and everlasting as we are a : :' mere flicker in the night sky. Wild PinkÆs music has always ': ,: rooted around in those sort of immortal complexities, but A :, : Billion Little Lights is the first time the surrounding music : :' truly captures those alternatingly micro and macro quandaries. ': ,: It, too, is something to marvel at. :, : : :' ': : ' '.. ..' .. . :........... . . . . ............: . . ______________ ______________ \ / \ / \ / Shout out to all our homies from: \ / \ / \ / \ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ / \ / RAGEMP3 MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ / \ / \ / \/ ____ ____ \/ \ / F A N G \ / \/ 2 0 2 1 \/