Subtle soundscapes, haunting vocals and broody bass Clash Magazine
Enough hypnotic electronica to keep bassheads interested, while their folky roots and classical string arrangements add depth to satisfy any weary soul MTV
Standing out as one of the most promising new acts in the UK DIY Magazine
Surely destined for great things Evening Standard
Londoners Mt. Wolf have returned with a new track ‘Red’, marking the end of a near year-long hiatus for the hotly tipped outfit.
The tail end of 2013 drew to a close with ‘big things’ quite deservedly forecast for Mt. Wolf- one of the most-blogged about artists of the year, the band were also tipped on the UK Blog Sound of 2014 list (alongside the likes of Wolf Alice and Marika Hackman), with radio spins coming from Radio 1, 6Music & XFM, and a Soundcloud clocking in close to a million plays. Buoyed largely by word-of-mouth support, triumphant London headline shows at the likes of Corsica Studio, XOYO, Union Chapel and Heaven all sold-out.
The last thing anyone expected at this point was an announcement of the band’s split, yet this was exactly the news with which the year closed- Mt. Wolf’s members subsequently turning to various other musical projects, and no new music from the band heard since. Until now. Splicing acoustic elements with ambient electronica to characteristically soaring effect, ‘Red’ finds Mt. Wolf reminding us exactly why they were so hotly tipped in the first place. Here, the broad ebb & flow of sparse soundscapes (which feel rather nostalgically informed by the band’s childhoods spent variously by the coasts of Guernsey, Brighton and Dorset) and meditative vocals are tempered by the distinctly modern snap and ricochet of electronic bass & beats.
Though there’s a raw emotional edge at play here which is unmistakeably Mt. Wolf, you detect the subtlest of winks in ‘Red’s’ yearning, looped refrain- ‘I’m going away for a long time’. With the long-overdue arrival of ‘Red’, and the subsequent new Mt. Wolf material it hints at, the all-pervading sense is one that for band and fans alike, the return has most certainly been worth it.
