All the way from North London, Gengahr have really stepped up the production value and honed in on their sound – crafting an impressive 12-track follow-up to their 2015 debut, A Dream Outside.
There’s something instantly pleasing about Gengahr’s opening track, ‘Before Sunrise’. A little bit Phoenix and a little bit (of the good) MGMT, it’s incredibly chirpy without being annoying.
It’s fairly obvious why ‘Malory’ has been receiving so much air-play lately. It’s soft and gentle, and much like the whole album, it’s the kind of track you can put on at a lazy Sunday session and forget about work the next day.
Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell lends vocal backing on ‘Is This How You Love’ and title track ‘Where Wildness Grows’ is one of the more sombre in tone and also inspired the album artwork. ‘Blind Truth’ sounds a lot like early Cold War Kids, which is a great thing, while the rhythmic guitars and percussion on first single ‘Carrion’ bounce along hypnotically.
There honestly are not many tracks that don’t pull their weight, with ‘90s alt-indie inspired ‘Burning Air’, and Bushe’s impressive vocal range on ‘Left In Space’ or ‘Whole Again’, of which Bushe says “I think it struck everyone immediately as the album finisher.” It’s damn good.
8.5
