Mt. Wolf were crowned “the most blogged about band” of 2013, their popularity and fan base was increasing and only good things were on the horizon. Well, that was the expectation. Unfortunately this all changed as the departure of vocalist Kate Sproule caused an unexpected break up for Mt. Wolf at the end of 2013. The rest of the band didn’t really know what to do.
However, after attempts at other projects, Stevie, Bassi and Al decided to get back together as Mt. Wolf and see what they could do. Towards the end of last year, the band released comeback track ‘Red’ to a tidal wave of support from the musical community and online bloggers in delight at their comeback.
‘VIII’ is the follow up track to last month’s ‘Hamburg’ – both coming from the band’s upcoming Red EP. ‘Hamburg’s beautiful build up accompanied by angelic male vocals are Bon Iver reminiscent, and there aren’t much better compliments. ‘Red’ and ‘Hamburg’ were enough to convince me that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and in Mt. Wolf’s case, the reformation was the best decision they could have made.
‘VIII’ is a real step up from the electro-folk band. The track begins with the strong beat of a drum machine, a pulsating rhythm that immediately catches your ear, interspersed with what sounds like short cuts of vocal samples. These suddenly die away in place of guest vocalist Alexa Harley’s smooth and soothing tone – “It was so bittersweet, to have you tangled with me” – as an overwhelmingly calm and peaceful atmosphere is created by the intricate layers of instrumentation.
If Mt. Wolf continue down this road, I can see them making the transition to a Clean Bandit-like scenario – making incredible music with consistent collaborations from talented singers. Lots of electro-pop bands are making the leap into the mainstream right now, with Clean Bandit and Years & Years at the fore front. There is no doubt in my mind that Mt. Wolf will be riding the wave to join them very soon.
Red is out 13 April, and you can catch Mt. Wolf live at Cecil Sharpe House, London on April 15.
Elli Brazzill
@littlelionelli
Elli Brazzill
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