The release of another poptastic track by the inimitable Wilding is cause for internal cartwheels and a private session of interpretive dancing expressing wild uninhibited joy.
And, today, we have the honour of premiering his new musical magnificence, ‘You Tried Your Best’, which is the sound of Wilding (the project of Justin Stokes) at his very best. And his very best is so far ahead of the pack you’d need a very powerful set of binoculars just to catch a glimpse.
‘You Tried Your Best’ lifts up its skirts and sets off at a high stepping canter – a pure example of indie disco that defies you to stand still while remaining true to a certain inner city darkness. It’s a bright dose of melancholia dressed as a glitter ball, spinning ever so slightly out of control and heading for the fine china. Channeling a little Pulp, Stokes’s voice is swaggering and poised, the instrumentation like a whirligig at a funfair, luminescent and blinding. Wilding is an antipodean Ian Dury embraced in a tight death grip with Jona Lewie in a waltz at a local school disco, with Jarvis Cocker conducting the band.
Stokes says:
This song is our first collaboration with the whole Wilding band. We each bought our own creative influences and the song’s better for it. ‘You Tried Your Best’ explores themes of resignation as the best option in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Sometimes, to resign to ‘whatever will be’ is the better choice than pushing on through. ‘Fate up against your will’ – as the great Ian McCulloch would say.
This is incandescent brilliance and proves the light emitted from Wilding grows brighter with each outing.
‘You Tried Your Best’ is out on 15 November and will be available to download and stream through the link above and here.
Wilding are:
Vocals – Justin Stokes
Guitars – Rob Andrews
Keys – Brianna Cox
Drums – Jack Molloy
Bass guitar – Emily Cartwright
‘You Tried Your Best’ was recorded by Calum Newton (Amyl and the Sniffers, Blanco Tranco) and mastered by Graeme Lynch, UK (Blossoms, The Coral, Miles Kane).
You can catch Wilding launch the single on Friday, 29 November – details below.
Feature Photograph: Louise Yates
