WILT & OCEANS- ‘Wilt’
Wilt are a shoegazing alt-rock trio from Manchester, UK. Oceans are a dream-pop outfit from Melbourne, Australia. But despite the distance between them, and a global pandemic messing up every other part of the plan, together they have produced this collaborative EP. And it sounds less like a mix of both acts and more like a completely brand new one.
‘Next To You’ starts with a bang and some brilliant Deftonesian dynamics before the guitars almost wholly drop away to leave behind a warm, hazy atmosphere where the vocals of Thomas and Mayzie Lee of Oceans can whisper and intertwine. ‘Blank Field’ merges tidal almost-metal with pulsing, bass-driven dreampop and manages to sound both up-close-and-personal and absolutely massive at the same time. And ‘Shudder’ does away with almost all distorted heft and foregrounds soft vocals and synthy pulses to fantastic, beautiful effect.
My favourite thing about this release isn’t any particular track or moment though, it’s the cooperation and coordination on show. It’s that there are few joins or stitches between two bands operating in isolation on opposite sides of the world. There’s little telling where Wilt end and Oceans begin. Both bands have sounded different before now and both bands will sound different again in the future. Making this a unique, perhaps unrepeatable, irreplaceable thing. A rare treat.
