Photo Credit: Joey Atchison
London-based alt-rock band Wildernesses have unveiled their latest single, ‘Summertime, 1917’, ahead of their debut album Growth, out 27th March via Floodlit Recordings.
The new single explores love and loss, telling the story of two male soldiers in World War One, seen through the eyes of a modern narrator who discovers their love letters while renovating a deceased loved ones house.
The accompanying video is quintessential Wildernesses DIY, directed and filmed by vocalist Phillip Morris and guitarist Sam Howe. Phillip explains: "I filmed around my home town over six months, often jumping out of the car when the light was right or fog drifted across a field. Filming over time allowed contrasts between spring and winter, light and dark, linking to the lyric: ‘The back end of May, blossom was falling and you slipped from the present tense’.”
Sam contributed drone footage from Sussex during walks with his dogs, Mikey and Spud, adding a triumphant lift to the final chorus.
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/_n5QHFJAg2w
Listen to 'Summertime, 1917' here: https://lnk.to/summertime1917
Pre-order Growth here: https://www.floodlitrecordings.com/pages/growth-preorder
Vocalist Phillip Morris comments on the new single: "I based the lyrics on a poem I wrote the year after my mum died of Motor Neurone Disease (MND). I wanted to explore the conflicting feelings I had at that time, the process of acceptance, finding reasons that everything would be OK, even as death is final. Caring for her was a privilege that allowed me to know her more deeply but I also witnessed the cruel loss of movement that ended in her death.
"I never renovated her house but the imagery of reworking a space appealed to me. The song's lyrics aimed to reflect on social issues in a literary way, rather than an overtly political way. We all know war is bad; my aim was to zoom in on two singular stories across time and make the listener feel them, rather than just consider a message.
"At the time of writing it I was working as a social worker at a hospice in Hull and wanted to capture the joy and pain of speaking with elderly patients. Ageism often goes unspoken and older generations have lived experiences that younger people can only imagine. I wanted to highlight the privilege of uncovering hidden stories that are real and untold.
"Musically, Wildernesses aim to bridge post-rock and pop structures. The second half of the track evolves into a repeated motif that serves as the narrator’s self-reflective mantra and hook, opening up as he finishes reading the letters and processes his emotions.”
'Summertime, 1917' is the fourth single to be taken from the band’s forthcoming debut album, Growth. Previous singles 'Four Hour Drive', 'English Darkness' and 'Maintenance' have drawn widespread critical acclaim for their cinematic scope and understated intensity, establishing Wildernesses’ defining balance of haze and melody. 'Four Hour Drive' offered a tender reflection on family, lineage and inherited memory, inspired by a 1957 photograph of Morris’s father and grandfather, while 'English Darkness' confronted mental health with brooding urgency, its stark visuals filmed on Hull’s Sunk Island flats under the direction of Stewart Baxter, know for his previous work with bands such as IDLES. 'Maintenenace' explored the quiet, obsessive routines that structure daily life, blending introspective lyricism with swelling, atmospheric instrumentation. With ‘Summertime, 1917’, Wildernesses continue to expand their folk tales, marrying historical reflection with intensely personal storytelling.
Emerging as modern day narrators cloaked in atmospheric alt-rock, Wildernesses conjure emotive landscapes that feel at once expansive and deeply human. Their music occupies liminal territory, between memory and imagination, heaviness and tenderness, despair and quiet hope, offering cinematic soundscapes that linger long after the final notes fade.
Formed almost by accident and featuring members of bands such as Late Night Fiction, Earth Moves and We Never Learned To Live, Wildernesses bring together Phillip Morris (vocals, guitar), Ryan Browne (drums), Mark Portnoi (bass) and Sam Howe (guitar), each carrying their own “wilderness” of lived experience, Hull and Humber riverside grit, East London streets, West Sussex roots, woven into a singular sonic and narrative tapestry. At the heart of the band, Morris’s lyrics act as modern folk tales, shaped by his work as a mental health professional, shaped by loss and survival and the understated strength found in ordinary lives.
With a sound that draws from the wide-eyed ambience of Explosions in the Sky, the fragile intensity of Bon Iver, the brooding restraint of The National, the dreamlike haze of Slowdive and the narrative urgency of La Dispute. Their name reflects the terrains they explore, interior wildernesses of memory, grief and reflection, wild, unkempt, sometimes bleak yet undeniably beautiful.
Growth spans nine tracks, seven lyrical, two instrumental, each a chapter in a story cycle that charts the human experience: insomnia, solitary escapism, forbidden desire, family heritage and hidden histories unearthed from the past. Recorded at No Studio in Manchester with producer Joe Clayton (Conjurer, Mastiff, Bossk), the album balances sweeping, cinematic textures with meticulously crafted, intimate detail. From shimmering post-rock crescendos to hushed, reflective passages, Growth captures the layered complexity and haunting nuance that defines Wildernesses’ sound.
Commenting on the album, Phillip adds: "Growth is the result of over two years of writing, refining and learning together as a band. The title reflects both life’s way of shaping us and our own journey as a group, with a playful nod to my obsession with houseplants, the cover photo of them in my bath tied the themes of growth, texture and everyday life together. We’d never met before this project and now we’re close friends, having navigated highs, lows and the intense process of making a record that truly captures what we intended. Recorded with Joe Clayton at NO Studio in Manchester, the sessions were incredible; his calm, thoughtful approach helped shape the album’s sound and feel. Thematically, Growth aims to be real and emotive, joyful and morose all at once. It’s a huge milestone for us, and we can’t wait for people to hear it, feel the vinyl in their hands and connect with the stories in the tracks."
In a world that moves relentlessly forward, Wildernesses invite listeners to pause, breathe and step into the slow orbit of memory, into modern folk tales told through guitars, voices and textures that are at once personal and universal and where loss, tenderness, and quiet endurance coexist in equal measure.
To mark the release of Growth, Wildernesses will carry these songs from the studio into live rooms across the country, touring throughout March. Each performance offers a shared moment as the album’s quiet pull and gradual release are brought to life in real time. Live dates are listed below.
Catch Wildernesses live:
Mar 18 - Hull @ Divehu5
Mar 19 - Leeds @ Opporto
Mar 20 - Nottingham @ JT Soar
Mar 21 - Manchester @ Old Pint Pot
Mar 22 - Birmingham @ Dead Wax
|Mar 24 - Bristol @ Exchange
Mar 25 - Cardiff @ Fuel
Mar 26 - Brighton @ Rossi
Mar 27 - London @ Folklore (album release show)
Apr 9 - Brighton @ East Street Tap
Aug 21- Arctangent Festival
WILDERNESSES are:
Phillip Morris - vocals, guitar
Sam Howe - guitar
Mark Portnoi - bass
Ryan Browne - drums
WILDERNESSESonline:
Facebook | Instagram |Spotify| Linktree|Floodlit Recordings
Growth Tracklisting:
Sleepless
Happy Hollow
[dread.]
English Darkness
Terrible Bloom
Maintenance
Cassino
Four Hour Drive
Summertime, 1917
