Rare Essences: Andy Gill Of Gang Of Four's Favourite Records | Page 5 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

4. Wild BeastsWanderlust

Sometimes I nose around on the internet, seeing what people are talking about. I’ll download a track from iTunes just to check things out. ‘Wanderlust’ is one of the things I listened to.

I think it’s just fantastic. I love the way it’s just got that one drumbeat, I think it’s a drum machine, I’m not sure, and that’s all it does. [Hayden Thorpe] has got a fantastic voice. It’s got these sort of crappy-sounding keyboards, organs. Some of that album [Present Tense], I’ve been listening to it over the last few months, sometimes it’s so overly pretty it puts you off a bit. They’re obviously in love with 80s synth sounds, a lot of people are these days, and sometimes the arrangements on some of the songs just feel very 80s and slightly too ornate and slightly too pretty. But on ‘Wanderlust’ I think they completely nailed it and it’s really just one part. It doesn’t go through lots of different sections, the way the vocals and the music develop. It’s a great song, very poppy, very pretty, driving and it makes its point.

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