The artwork for Xan Griffin’s “Gemini” looks like it was taken straight from the dust jacket of a Lovecraftian novel, so it goes without saying that I looked for the track to deliver an imagination-inciting sound. There’s no doubt that Griffin and his featured counterparts in WILD deliver on those expectations as the track builds up with enough inspiring tension to fill up an arena. Gang vocals declare in unison “So start a fire!” as it accelerates toward its peak and swells into a gorgeous, synth-laden drop that feels like the culmination of an epic.
Relating the music back to its Lovecraftian visuals, I can’t help but associate the density of the track and its resulting extravagance with that of the best mystical and science-fiction stories. Plenty of books and films can attempt to replicate the awe of a hypothetical world, but it requires layers and layers of compelling material to explore so that the resulting art avoids hollow mimicry and instead achieves esoteric bliss. For every Star Wars or Mass Effect universe, there’s 1,000 Season Of The Witches, so it’s important to cherish those thrilling exceptions. There’s no doubt I’ll apply that appreciative rule of thumb “Gemini.”
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/323772203″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]