Staff Reviews

Snow Patrol - Wildness

Review by Harriet Linnell

A really great comeback record»

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Snow Patrol return with Wildness, their first album in seven years, which finds the band searching for clarity, connection, and meaning, while staying true to the melodic songwriting prowess that brought them to prominence. The songs are surefooted, displaying a newfound sense of self and purpose, and the rest of the band members rose magnificently to the occasion. The album is produced once more by the great Jacknife Lee, Snow Patrol’s longtime producer and collaborator. Life on Earth opens the album with its mission statement, “this is something else, this is something else.” Heal Me feels like an ancient hymn: “Finally, after way too many years of smashing my body to bits with booze, I met someone who helped me find my way back to health and clarity," says Lightbody. “This song is about her, that journey and is dedicated to her.” Empress, written for Lightbody’s goddaughters, is fierce and heartfelt, with runaway drums and keen words of wisdom. What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get? is a heartstring-puller, posing the question nobody wants to ask. The last track, Life and Death, is a rumination, and a human story of love and forgiveness— mostly self-forgiveness for Lightbody, demonstrating that perhaps everyone ought to take this long between albums to reflect long and hard before they write.
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