Tag: Night Wandering (Wandour EP)

Wandour’s “Flux” Coaxes the Mind Into an Emotional Journey With No Set Destination as a Path Out of Mental Stagnation

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Wandour, image courtesy the artist

Fluttering breezes of melody swirl around the synth swells in the beginning of Wandour’s “Flux” before vocals come in like speech coming in from real life into a dream. A crystalline arpeggio echoes gently in the distance when the song reaches the cruising velocity it seemed to be aiming for earlier in the song as all sounds floated upwards even as the vocals say, “Going nowhere.” Nowhere physically, maybe but certainly the vibe of the song is transporting and transcending everyday concerns. But no specific destination in mind or through intention. The bright streams of incandescent sound give way to almost atonal, processed bell tones before the the song lands in the fadeout with an effect akin to the heady effervescence of Slowdive’s cover of Syd Barrett’s “Golden Hair.” There is a coolness to the song that parallels the arrival of fall making this latest single by Wandour arrive at exactly the right time. Listen to “Flux” on Soundcloud and follow Wandour at the links provided. Also check out Wandour’s equally entrancing Night Wandering EP on Spotify.

soundcloud.com/wandour
open.spotify.com/artist/3Ak1a7Dr0OryHJZbiFbnFr

Wandour’s “Distance” Captures Perfectly The Sleepy Times of Post-Industrial Urban America Pre-Rampant Re-Development

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Wandour, image courtesy the artist

If you live in a city of any real size there’s probably an district or oil refinery or a similarly bleak urban/suburban feature that seems at odds with a good human life and yet which offers a kind of tranquil if brutal beauty contrasted with the lights of the city center. “Distance” by Wandour articulates that space, psychologically and physically, well and how they’re often not so far apart and visible to each other. The orange haze of sodium bulbs painting the night sky a pale tangerine unless you’re sufficiently far enough over the horizon to escape its nimbus. The bell tone, on the border of being off-putting, is the sound of the train gates alerting drivers to stop or be aware of a rail-traveling behemoth on the way whether transit or hundreds of coal cars in winter to potentially interrupt your journey through town. It is the sound of the late night when the lights of the city signify mostly signage of corporate giants broadcasting their dominance over the landscape rather than actual human activity. And yet there’s a certain dystopian beauty to it that only people who have lived in towns with ample urban decay can fully appreciate because that distance between the business centers and the spaces where industrial activity occurs is where creative people have long been able to conduct their activities in the passive benevolence of parts of town considered undesirable. Parts of town, frankly, quickly disappearing in most cities considered cool and made that way by the city’s artists and visionary entrepreneurs. Is the song mourning the erosion of that reality? Perhaps but in doing so Wandour has captured the essence of that experience before gentrification and reckless development have washed it all away. The song is from the Night Wandering EP and a more perfect title for this kind of music would be difficult to conjure. Listen below and follow Wandour at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/wandour
open.spotify.com/artist/3Ak1a7Dr0OryHJZbiFbnFr