“Strangers” no more: The Wilderness ready to release new album and hit the road
The Wilderness have been a band for nearly 10 years, but it’s the past 12 months that have been among the most intense in their career.
For six months, from late 2022 into March 2023, the six members of the band lived together weekly in a house on Howe Island, just off Kingston in Lake Ontario, a kind of self-imposed creativity boosting lockdown that helped them write more than 30 songs, 10 of which endured to become the selections for “Strangers I Used To Love,” their new album set to be released on April 12.
“We were finally afforded the ability” to take their time and work through the songwriting process, learning and workshopping each part until it felt right, says Hank Lawrence, the band’s drummer. “We never really had the opportunity to just put what needed to be done into the process, especially the recording. That’s such a big thing. ‘Until Tomorrow,’ the first album, was so rushed.”
Which is not to say the band isn’t proud of their first album, released in 2020. But it’s a piece of art from a different time; it’s also one that the Wilderness didn’t get a chance to tour, fully, due to the covid pandemic disrupting everything.
“It sounds like a cliche, ‘we put everything into this album,’ but we really did,” adds Liam Neale, the last original member to join the band (seven years ago) as a percussionist and “synth master,” as lovingly named by his bandmates.
“Having all that time on the island was the best thing for us,” says Jonas Lewis-Anthony, the band’s singer. “We didn’t feel the pressure of, shit, the clock is ticking. We’d get out there on a Tuesday night — Wednesdays are our days, they’re booked off, they’re the days we spend together as a band. We’d be there Tuesday night after work, we’d cook some food, have some beers, watch some TV. Someone might be playing drums. We’d be hanging out as friends but have all of our (gear) at our disposal. We had a sleepover every Tuesday,” he laughed, adding that despite the house having several rooms, they’d all fall asleep in front of a fire in the living room fireplace.
The next morning, they’d wake up, get breakfast and get to work. They’d compare notes and ideas and then set about spending the day working on songs, demo’ing and building in a creative fury they’d never had the time or space to experience before.
“It was the best six months ever. I miss that place so much,” he says. “”It was such an important thing for our band and for us as friends. Having that space on Howe Island saved our friendship and gave us the album.”
It’s worth noting that the friendships among the six members of the band — including Karl Tombak on bass, Max Tinline on guitar and vocals and Nicholas Lennox on saxophone, keys, guitar, percussion and vocals — are inseparable from the band itself. Decisions about everything band-related and made within the context of what’s best for the group that affectionately refers to themselves as “The Bruvs.”
“I don’t know if there’s a secret to why we’ve stuck together this long. We all genuinely are great friends and love each other dearly. If we didn’t have that, I don’t think we’d still be doing this. That’s the thing that makes it all worth it,” Neale says.
“I’ve got no backup plan,” Lewis-Anthony interjects. “That’s a healthy fear that keeps driving me and nipping at my heels. We’ve always been really good friends, we continue to do things that make sense for our friendship, not necessarily just for the business.”
With nearly four years’ worth of work, including plenty of false starts, demos that didn’t go anywhere, ideas that were set aside and an international crisis that kept them home and working their day jobs, that would be enough for the Wilderness to be especially proud of and excited for the release of the new album.
After moving out of the Howe Island house last March, and taking a little time off, they regrouped in June and started spending a week or so at a time in Ottawa, working with Juno-winning producer Steve Foley in his studio. Once again, the band would pack up, drive out and camp out on floors, working for hours on end to perfect the album.
“We started recording the album in June in Ottawa and recorded the last notes of it in December,” Lewis-Anthony says. He and the others credit Foley, described as an “enigma” by the band, as a dedicated, passionate producer who intensely focused on getting the most out of the material.
“We had a conversation with him after the album was done and he was telling us how proud of it he was and he got very emotional,” Neale says. “That was a moment, at least for me, where I think I realized this album is really something special. When you’re so involved in the making of it, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. We were thinking about the details, not the whole thing. He invested himself so much into a project and he didn’t have to. To see how much it meant to him, it was incredible.”
It’s a powerful album, with deeply and richly personal songs and lyrics that reflect the span of humanity and emotion that comes from experiencing isolation, desperately wanting to feel both at home and separate from a place that raised and nurtured you. The guys in the band have experienced a lot of life since their last album came out in 2020 and that’s all reflected in the songs, beginning with the title track. (If you’ve ever moved away from home for a long time, years on end, and then returned to find the faces of people who used to be dear friends looking a little less familiar, oh, this one will hit deep in the heart.)
The Wilderness already has a following, evidenced by a sweaty sold-out show at the Horseshoe last July in which the power was cut during “Dancing in Dive Bars” but the band, and audience, carried on at full volume and a number of sold-out shows in Kingston, plus one coming up Friday in Napanee that kicks off a tour that will stretch into May. About half the dates have been announced — they’re returning to Kingston on April 12 and Toronto April 13 for an album release show the day after “Strangers” officially comes out — with more promised. The tour isn’t limited to Ontario, with dates in Vermont, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Seattle on the current list.
Bottom line: This is an ecstatically talented, deeply emotional, fully engaged band ready to take Canada (and some selected US cities) by storm this spring. Catch them now to say you knew them before they sold out stadiums.
