Album Review: Wolf People Creates A Grecian Odyssey In “Ruins”
I love mythology, and the most notable mythos of all is Greek. Thus, Wolf People’s Ruins will fascinate myth-lovers whom will find the record to be a musical, Grecian odyssey. Like the sagas of old, the album takes places in a dystopian society where heroes and villains are followed to offer listening ears a few moral lessons. Yet, the heroes of this saga are not human beings, but, nature, itself.
As Jack Sharp explained, “like many people – especially now – we’re constantly veering towards complete frustration with the human race one moment, and celebrating all the positive things about humanity the next.’ The constant tussling between a love and hate for our own species is central to Ruins’ lyrics of a world where humanity is now gone, after destroying itself, and Nature discusses the highs and lows of the human spirit. The theme is imaginative beyond belief, and feels like J.K. Rowling wrote this record. The idea that Nature, itself, would speak on humanity in a eulogy of sorts to mourn its self-destruction and inability to see its own greatness, is tragically impactful. Such a thematic position resonates for these times where it seems violence, climate change, and socio-economic inequality are furthering man-made sufferings. For Sharp, and his fellow bandmates, if there is one common virtue that each Greek hero/ human being has struggled to learn, it is humility, and for that is destroys itself.
Arrogance and an underestimation of others/life seems to always entrap Greek heroes/ human beings and lead to their downfall. Humanity’s struggle with its ego has tainted its relationship with both nature and itself, which can be seen in songs like “Belong”, “Rhine Sagas”, and “Glass”. They capture/ captivate humanity’s’ inability to better as a whole because it defines being special as a solo journey. For Nature, it is in togetherness and shared virtue that “special” happens as even Adam and Eve were risen and fell together. These tracks, like of all of Ruins, will leave you dumbfounded by what you learn, dream, realize, and think about as you hear songs like “Salts Mill” and “Kingfisher”, which are vast narratives. Personally, I loved Ruins because it made me see humanity, nature, and myself from a new, unknown perspective. Frankly, I never think of Nature pass me or even pass humanity. We all carry an idea that life ends when we end, especially when we try to approach themes like Global Climate Change. Yet, Ruins is a stark, humbling reminder that Nature has always been and will always be even after humanity. Again, reiterating that the album is about losing contrivance and gaining a consideration for life. Wolf People achieve this moral feat by smashing psychedelic rock and folk lyricism to create a mindful, sonic landscape where you are the vines, leaves, and tall weeds that speak on humanity like an Eden that has recovered from this tormented species’ fall.
Note that I uses the word “smash” to describe Wolf People’s sound. Like their Rock ancestors, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, each track in Ruins is a love letter to heavy guitar riffs and dark drumming, battle drums. Wolf People’s string arrangements are like tiny, electric plugs leeching onto your skin; they absorb everything of you to replace it with electricity. The whole album feels like a giant, mystical epic that you have found from some poet of long ago. Yet, the emotional/ mental movements Ruins makes upon your soul is magnified by Jack Sharp’s raw, fuzzed vocals. Through the magic of synthetics, he comes off like a distorted radio signal beaconing across this musical Eden so that every gust of wind and cloud in the sky knows that the green Earth is actually sad to see humanity go, even if it is better off. Maybe, if humanity had been humbler, it could have been better. For More Information On Wolf People and To Buy Ruins on November 11 Click Here.
