I was anticipating “In The Floodlight” for a while: I’d heard WILDES for the first time several weeks ago, but just as I was getting this post ready she announced the new single. It was worth the wait. “Into The Floodlight” might be my favourite single from WILDES to date.
My first exposure to WILDES was “Are You Gonna Speak?”. It found me in the middle of a stressful and dangerous drive on a dark, snowy night in early December. I hadn’t heard of her before, and it was absolutely the right song for the moment — soothing but propulsive, melodic and calming. I think I played it four times in a row, until I arrived at the hotel. By that point I was already a fan, but there’s so much more to dig into.
WILDES is Ella Walker from London, and “Are You Gonna Speak?” is the second in a series of collaborations culminating in an EP titled “Kopfkino” to be released Feburary 19 with St. Francis Hotel, the stage name of accomplished producer Declan Gaffney who has worked with a long list of household names.
The title track and first single was released in October of 2024. “Kopfkino” is a Greek word that literally translates to “brain cinema”, and it seems like a pretty fair description of the track to me. It’s dreamy, cinematic and melodic:
WILDES released an EP earlier in 2024 called Subsidence, and it’s more traditional pop than these singles, anchored by vivid, enigmatic lyrics and Walker’s unmistakeable vocal. Here’s standout “Heartbreak is Silent” from Subsidence:
This interview in NBHAP is interesting: it seems that she had to take some time off from releasing music prior to 2023 due to an ugly relationship with an old label (not the first one of those we’ve seen here). Sounds like a nightmare:
“My manager was very controlling and didn’t let me release any new music, which is crazy”, she recalls. “It was killing me that I didn’t, but I was so used to not releasing music regularly that it was just normal...Finally I can release regularly, so here I am… I’m really enjoying it, although it’s a lot of work. I am really enjoying having the creative control and everything.”
It’s not clear if there will be another release before the record comes out next month, but in any case, it’s likely that you’ll be hearing a lot more from WILDES in the near future.
