Wilding Sun is officially out on Friday, November 12 via Dragon’s Eye Recordings and Foxy Digitalis is thrilled to present this exclusive stream of the full album. Pick up a copy today!
There’s an overwhelming sense of impermanence that saturates the expansive views of Gabie Strong’s Wilding Sun. Across four sprawling pieces, Strong conjures a set of spells that etch messages into stone before dissipating headlong into the ether. Wilding Sun moves forward like a newborn creature, taking everything in and finding enchantment in the newness of the world. Between the sweet cries and warm purrs of her cats, gentle insect chirps, and the extensive tonal range and shape of her guitar playing, the sonic universe Strong constructs is otherworldly.
Opener “Lavender” rises and falls with the seasons. A cold breeze sweeps fallen leaves off toward the sunset, electric chords repeating and shimmering like a glass facade facing the horizon. Light refracts across the surface, sending the guitar explorations skyward in pieces, a soft rain moving in reverse. Endless shades of green summon haunted textures that feel cool against the skin before evaporating to never be felt again. This intoxicating feeling of uncertainty and ephemerality is the silver lining within Wilding Sun and “Lavender” sings it with poise.
Strong dissects different avenues and aural sediments throughout Wilding Sun, intertwining her emotive guitar constellations with sounds from up close and beyond. “Dandelion” swims through the humid night, insects singing and twittering like rapid fire sonar pings letting the outside world know that even if they’re invisible in the darkness, they’re still here. Strong’s guitar drones hang in the air, feathery and full of dust. Harmonies distill from the blackened soil, the world shifting around us in disorienting ways as meteors flash across the dark sky. She obliterates this feeling immediately on “Mugwort,” the jarring transition initiating the feeling of being awoken from a deep sleep. The real world is stark as our luminous dreams fade into obscurity.
Wilding Sun is fleeting and because of that, I keep returning to it. In the tense scrawl and random pops of “Catnip,” obscuring the underlying landscape becomes paramount. Strong waves away thoughts of escape, burrowing deeper into the electronic detritus with pointed static and lurching ghost rhythms melting together, becoming an immovable wall. The entirety of Wilding Sun is a memory creeping at the edge of our vision, close enough to feel it claw at our perception but far enough away that we question if it’s real. Unclear answers lead us back to the beginning to try and grasp each grain of sand one last time before they disappear again.
If you like what Foxy Digitalis does, please consider supporting us on Patreon.
