White Wilderness

iTunes Review

The vivid orchestral moves of White Wilderness give the music a deep old-world European feel. The album sounds brilliant and is meant for play in rooms where serious thinkers usually ruminate with Mahler on the sound system. Vanderslice’s weathered vocals and thoughtful lyrics are purely background information to an album so informed by sonic treats. The horn section and strings of “The Piano Lesson” create a mad scampering. “Convict Lake” turns to the dark side of The Magical Mystery Tour. The bare acoustic accompaniment of “After It Ends” is welcomed piece of calm amongst the instrumental madness. “Overcoat” immediately re-engages the full orchestra attack. White Wilderness is a difficult album to pin down. It is far more than the work of the singer-songwriter we’ve come to know in Vanderslice and it is not a “period piece” with whiffs of nostalgia. It’s a fresh pop work that uses music as its main force, which in an age when many are concerned with post-modern uses of past reference points makes this a stand-out for all the right reasons.