New Music: Wyldest - The Poet

Some bands are a bit like football teams, aren’t they? It’s a case of one in, one out, but the name continues anyway. Alas it doesn’t go far as the full transfer market, although this might be quite a fun idea. If Coldplay think that Chris Martin has lost it a bit, maybe they could sell him to say, Muse, and bring in Ed Sheeran instead. Or perhaps The 1975 could take a risk and sell Matt Healy to The Rolling Stones (as Mick Jagger can’t have that long in his career to go) and take on the singer of a younger newer indie band like Sundara Karma or Spring King perhaps? If artists kept doing this then pop and rock groups would never need to end. The Rolling Stones could go on touring forever even when all members of the original band were six feet under. S Club 7 tried this to a certain extent (with S Club Juniors following them up) although admittedly that’s not quite the same.

Talking of S Club Juniors, founding member of dream pop three piece Wyldest Zoe Meads once auditioned for S Club Juniors (who then renamed themselves S Club 8) and got down to the final 30, but it wasn’t to be. A shame really, I’d have quite liked to have heard Wyldest’s take on One Step Closer.  Wyldest themselves haven’t sold any of their members on (or not as far as I know) but recently original member Holly Mullineaux has left the band, replaced by Mariin Kallikorm. Now all we need is vocalist Zoe Mead to leave and there will be none of the founding members of the group (when they were just a duo) left, a bit like The Sugababes - who incidentally released their 2002 comeback single on the day that S Club Juniors released One Step Closer. There you are pop fans, you don’t get this sort of waffle on Pitchfork or their many imitators, do you?

So, with that bit of pop history over and done with, you may be wondering what Wyldest version 2.0 sounds like? The answer is not that different to Wyldest version 1.0 – perhaps it’s more Wyldest 1.1 than 2.0? There’s still plenty of dreamy hypnotic guitar sounds ready to snake into your head, some misty 80’s sounding synths and a bunch of appealing melodies. If anything The Poet is the most accessible thing Wyldest has made to date. Fans of bands like Warpaint will probably appreciate this one. Mind you, it’s no Reach For The Stars or Push The Button, which depending on your perspective could be a good or bad thing.

Wyldest - The Poet