Wildness (album)

Wildness is the seventh studio album by Northern Irish-Scottish rock band Snow Patrol. The album was released on 25 May 2018. It is their first album with Johnny McDaid as a full member of the band, after his involvement as a guest musician and songwriter on Fallen Empires[2] and participation in its tour.[3] It was also the last album feature bassist Paul Wilson and drummer Jonny Quinn who both left the band in September 2023.

Wildness
Studio album by
Snow Patrol
Released25 May 2018
Recorded2016–2017
Genre
Length44:39
LabelPolydor
ProducerJacknife Lee
Snow Patrol chronology
Greatest Hits
(2013)		 Wildness
(2018)		 Reworked
(2019)
Singles from Wildness
  1. "Don't Give In"
    Released: 21 March 2018[1]
  2. "Life on Earth"
    Released: 12 April 2018
  3. "What If This Is All the Love You Ever Get?"
    Released: 2 May 2018
  4. "Empress"
    Released: 8 May 2018

Background and development

In an interview with NME in 2012, Gary Lightbody said that he had to overcome a bout of writer's block and that the songs written for the new album were scrapped before being replaced by new "mind-boggling" material.[4] The follow-up to 2011's Fallen Empires was initially due for release in 2016,[5] and subsequently summer 2017.[6] In late January 2018, the title and release date were officially announced.[7]

Every song in the album has its own music video except for "Heal Me".

Promotion

"Don't Give In" was released as the first single for Wildness on 21 March 2018. "Life on Earth" was released as the second single from the album on 12 April 2018. "What If This Is All the Love You Ever Get?" was released as the third single on 2 May 2018. "Empress" was released as the fourth single on 8 May 2018.[8]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Drowned in Sound7/10[10]
The Independent[11]
Paste7.9/10[12]
Pitchfork4.8/10[13]
Q[14]
Under the Radar3.5/10[15]

Wildness received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16]

Pitchfork gave the album a score of 4.8 out of 10, calling it "their most personal album" and saying it "deals in matters of literal life and death".[13]

Commercial performance

After an extremely close chart race, the album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart on sales of 39,118, less than 1,000 sales behind The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.[17]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Gary Lightbody; all music is composed by Snow Patrol and Jacknife Lee, except "Life and Death" by Snow Patrol, Lee, Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt, Michael Karoli and Jaki Liebezeit

No.TitleLength
1."Life on Earth"5:22
2."Don't Give In"3:59
3."Heal Me"4:01
4."Empress"4:29
5."A Dark Switch"4:18
6."What If This Is All the Love You Ever Get?"3:48
7."A Youth Written in Fire"4:08
8."Soon"4:21
9."Wild Horses"4:38
10."Life and Death"5:35
Total length:44:39
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Life on Earth" (alternate version)4:41
12."Don't Give In" (alternate version)3:37
13."Heal Me" (alternate version)4:33
14."What If This Is All the Love You Ever Get?" (alternate version)4:16
15."Soon" (alternate version)3:32
Total length:65:18

Personnel

Snow Patrol

  • Gary Lightbody – lead vocals, guitar (except tracks 6 and 15), additional programming (track 7), backing vocals (tracks 11, 12 and 14)
  • Nathan Connolly – guitar (except tracks 6 and 15), backing vocals (except tracks 1, 6, 8 and 15)
  • Paul Wilson – bass (except tracks 6, 11–15)
  • Jonny Quinn – drums (except tracks 6, 11–15)
  • Johnny McDaid – piano (tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 14), backing vocals (except tracks 1, 6, 8, 10 and 15), keyboards (tracks 1, 11-15), guitar (tracks 3, 11–14), programming (tracks 11–15), orchestral arrangement (tracks 11-15)

Additional personnel

  • Jacknife Lee – guitar (except tracks 6, 11–15), keyboards (except tracks 6, 11–15), programming (except tracks 6, 11-15), backing vocals (tracks 3, 4, 9 and 10), strings arrangement (track 5 and 8), bass (track 9)
  • Davide Rossi – strings arrangement and strings quartet (tracks 1, 5 and 8)
  • Saran Davies – cello (tracks 11-15)
  • Ben Hulme – French horn (tracks 11, 14 and 15)
  • Alexandra Ridout – trumpet (track 12), flugelhorn (tracks 13–15)

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for Wildness
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[36] Gold 100,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Hanna, Nathan (19 March 2018). "Snow Patrol new single Don't Give In released date revealed". Belfast Live. MGN Limited. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  2. "Snow Patrol Track-By-Track Video: 'Fallen Empires'". Billboard. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  3. "Johnny McDaid". Threee. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  4. Stevens, Jenny (27 June 2012). "Snow Patrol scrap new album sessions". NME. Time Inc. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  5. "Twitter Q&A – new Snow Patrol Music next year ...'". Twitter.com. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  6. Jones, Damian (27 March 2017). "Snow Patrol announce comeback album plans". NME. Time Inc. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  7. "Snow Patrol tease fans with video to announce new album release date". Belfast Telegraph. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  8. Vallejo-Lopez, Abdiel (12 April 2018). "Listen to Snow Patrol's Out-of-This-World New Single, "Life on Earth"". Paste. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  9. "Wildness - Snow Patrol - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  10. Linnell, Harriet (24 May 2018). "Album Review: Snow Patrol - Wildness". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  11. "Chvrches, Snow Patrol, Jenny Hval, Artificial Pleasure and more – this week's albums, reviewed". The Independent. 24 May 2018.
  12. Salmon, Ben (31 May 2018). "Snow Patrol: Wildness Review". Paste. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  13. Cohen, Ian (4 June 2018). "Snow Patrol: Wildness Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  14. "Wildness by Snow Patrol Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic.
  15. "Wildness". www.undertheradarmag.com.
  16. "Reviews for Wildness by Snow Patrol". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  17. Jones, Alan (1 June 2018). "Charts analysis: Greatest Showman holds on at albums summit". Music Week. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  18. "Australiancharts.com – Snow Patrol – Wildness". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  19. "Austriancharts.at – Snow Patrol – Wildness" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Snow Patrol – Wildness" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  21. "Ultratop.be – Snow Patrol – Wildness" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  22. "Snow Patrol Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  23. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 22.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  24. "Dutchcharts.nl – Snow Patrol – Wildness" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Snow Patrol – Wildness" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  26. "Irish Albums Chart: 1 June 2018". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  27. "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  28. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  29. "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 22: del 25.5.2018 al 31.5.2018" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  30. "Swisscharts.com – Snow Patrol – Wildness". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  31. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  32. "Snow Patrol Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  33. "Jaaroverzichten 2018". Ultratop. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  34. "Rapports Annuels 2018". Ultratop. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  35. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2018". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  36. "British album certifications – Snow Patrol – Wildness". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
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