Bewilder From The Eyrie Maroon Colored Vinyl Edition

FromtheEyrieisBewilder’sdebutLP,butinalotofways,itfeelsliketheirfirstproperrelease.Theduoof vocalist/guitaristGeorgeBrooksandmulti-instrumentalistThomWilkinsonhavebeenplayingasBewilderforwell overadecadenow.Yet,FromTheEyriefeelsfreshwiththeurgencyofayoungband’sfirstdemotapebalanced withtheprecisionandmaturitythatonlytimetogethercancultivate.Wheretheband'spreviousEPsmighthave beenconsideredpromisingbutperhapsundeveloped,FromTheEyrietakesamoresophisticatedapproachand feelscompleteandfullyformed. TheseedsthatwouldblossomintoFromtheEyrieweresownin2019whenBrooksandWilkinsonbegansendingeachotherdemos–they’dalwaysoperatedthisway,sendingtracks backandforth,sowhenCOVIDhitandeverythinglockeddown,theirprocesswasn’tdisrupted.Infact,thingsbeganspeedingup.“TwinLakes”wasfinishedinMay2020,andboth TheseedsthatwouldblossomintoFromtheEyrieweresownin2019whenBrooksandWilkinsonbegansendingeachotherdemos–they’dalwaysoperatedthisway,sendingtracks backandforth,sowhenCOVIDhitandeverythinglockeddown,theirprocesswasn’tdisrupted.Infact,thingsbeganspeedingup.“TwinLakes”wasfinishedinMay2020,andboth agreedthebarhadbeensetforwhataBewildersongcouldbe.Whentheyheardthefulldemoofthetrack,violinsandall,theysetouttomakearecordasfull-bodiedandlayeredas possible.ForBrooks,who’dgrownuponclassicemobandslikeAmericanFootball,thegoalwastomakesomethingthattappedintothosefeelingswithoutretreadingoldground. Tobesure,therearethosereferencepoints–AmericanFootball,Mineral,Carissa’sWierd–butthewholeisfarmorethanthesumofitsinfluences.Thestringsthatfleshoutthesingle “Breaking”giveitafeelingentirelyitsown,andwhilethecascadingarpeggiosthatopen“HeavySweater”mightcallotherbandstomind,there’sawarmthtothesesongsthatsets themapartfromanythingelseintheemocanon.Maybeit’sWilkinson’sbackgroundinfolkmusicthatdoesit,hisfixationonthepastoralandnaturalistic.Itcolors“Home,”forsure,a songthatmixesthesparseacousticsoftraditionalfolkmusicwiththejanglingandtwinklingofemo.“That’sthesongwiththemostnostalgicfeeling,”thebandnotes,thesongthat bestsumsupthealbum’stwinthemesofnatureandnostalgia.“MychildhoodholidayswereremoteplacesintheUK,”Brooksshares,“somysafestplaceisinnature.”AndFromthe Eyriecapturesthefeelingofbeingawedbyrollinghills,lushfields,andseeminglynever-endingoceansthatsoaccompanieschildhood.Thesearen’tjustsongsaboutchildlike feelingsofwonder;theyembodythosefeelings.“We’remadeupoflittlepartsofeveryonewe’veeverknown,”Brookssingsatthestartoftherecord,“andeverytimewemakeanew friendwere-assesswhatwecanchange.”Rightupfront,hegivesthemissionstatementoftherecord,boththematicallyandmusically.FromtheEyriehasthecomfortofarecord you’velovedyourwholelifeinapackagethatfeelswhollynew