Wildflower (The Avalanches album)

After the release of their debut album, Since I Left You, the Avalanches continued to produce music and were touring until 2003. At least one track from the album's final cut had begun taking shape in 2000. One of the group's earliest collaborations was with Luke Steele in 2003, creating "tripped out rock 'n' roll" with both Steele and Di Blasi singing. Remnants of this project are reflected in the track "Colours" (2016). He underwent a treatment using ibogaine, a potent hallucinogenic drug. This was in response to a joke email which had reached the music press, in which Modular claimed it had rejected the group's new album. In January 2007, the band stated via its website that roughly 40 tracks were being considered for the record, but no estimated arrival date could be provided. In December 2011, the band's Twitter page released lyrics to a new song, "The Stepkids". In 2012, the group released a track entitled "A Cowboy Overflow of the Heart" featuring musician David Berman, reading a poem he composed over music by the group. A year later, the Avalanches also released a remix of Hunters & Collectors' first single "Talking to a Stranger" (1982). During this era, they also devoted a large amount of time working on the score to King Kong, a 2013 theater production which took two years to produce. The Wildflower track "The Noisy Eater" features remains of the project. Through the projects and collaborations over the years, the group had collected enough music which could be combined into a new album, marking a similar process to how Since I Left You was built. In regard to the band's second album, Modular stated in February 2014, "Album sounds awesome, but there's no dates or anything planned. The official line is 'stay tuned.'" In June 2014, Jennifer Herrema mentioned Chater had written to her stating "their album was gonna be done in three weeks". The band's official Facebook page was later updated in 2015, listing James Dela Cruz as a member of the band once again. == Production and composition ==

Wildflower was produced over the course of 16 years. The track "Saturday Night Inside Out" was originally from a mixtape in 2000 and was the first song Chater made after Since I Left You. Production for the album was not completed until March 2016. The group had to max out credit cards to help finance production. The group was thrilled to work with Camp Lo on the track "Because I'm Me". The Avalanches would always play Camp Lo's first record, Uptown Saturday Night (1997), at shows and even sampled it on Since I Left You. Wildflower is a plunderphonics album; every track on the record is sample-based, similar to Since I Left You. neo-psychedelia, disco, and hip hop The most difficult sample to clear was of a choir from Kew High School in Melbourne singing "Come Together" by The Beatles on the track "The Noisy Eater". Initially their request was refused, but Chater and Di Blasi made contact with Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono directly through "friends of friends". They sent them the track along with a letter written by Di Blasi explaining their process and in return were granted approval. The song would have not been added to Wildflower if the sample could not be cleared. The album was not finished until the night before mastering. Chater had a flight to New York City at 7:30 in the morning. Di Blasi stated, "so we're in the studio till 6:30 that morning till he literally was like 'I gotta go man, I gotta hop on the plane.' We were like, 'we think it sounds good. Fuck it.'" Many tracks the Avalanches considered for Wildflower did not make it into the album because they did not contribute to its overall style. Collaborators on these songs included Jens Lekman, Connan Mockasin, August Darnell, and Luke Steele. Once the style was more defined, they picked from tracks they had worked on which fell in line with others, similar to making a mix tape. The group intended to release these recordings that were closely related to Wildflower "within a year or so" of the album's release. This would help them "clean the slate" for new music. No further Wildflower era tracks were released, and the group's next studio album was released in 2020, We Will Always Love You. == Styles and themes ==

The Avalanches have described the album as a "road trip" in a "big, wide, expansive country like Australia." For inspiration, the group looked back on their teenage years of driving around the country and suburbia listening to music. The record is supposed to "capture that feeling of growing up...jumping in the car and hitting the road with a six-pack and heading out to the bush." The album attempts to capture the "halfway between happy and sad" feeling similar to old Beach Boys records which are a constant inspiration for the group. Chater felt that this feeling is what made Since I Left You a success, and they have continuously strived to create that feeling. Di Blasi thinks of Wildflower as a free-spirited person who does what they wish regardless of conventionality. The album features many samples from 1960s psychedelic music and relates to the era through counterculture and anti-establishment themes. Chater has noted that "Sunshine" was included in the album at the last minute but is one of his favorite tracks on Wildflower. "It starts off appearing like it's a very happy, joyous song," says Chater, "but there's a twist in the tale when the sample reveals that it's actually about someone having their sunshine taken away – the blue skies turn grey. It's really a song for everybody out there who's ever lost love, who's ever been broken-hearted." The lyrics to "If I Was a Folkstar" were written by Toro y Moi about him and his wife taking LSD on the beach shortly after they got married. The title of the album, Wildflower, was chosen for its simplicity. The group was inspired by other albums with simple titles which do not distract from the music, such as Smile by the Beach Boys. The cover art is a direct reference to Sly and the Family Stone's ''There's a Riot Goin' On'' (1971) in order to draw from the record's rebellious counter-culture nature, though approaching a more psychedelic style. == Release ==

On 12 April 2016, the Avalanches added new images of a gold butterfly on black cloth to their social media accounts and official website. At the time, some speculated this was a sign of new music forthcoming. The following day, the group was announced for three festival lineups: Splendour In The Grass, Primavera Sound, and Field Day. On 24 May, the band posted a video poking fun at their long hiatus since their last album and the continuous speculation of a follow-up release. On 2 June, the first single from the album, "Frankie Sinatra", was premiered on Australian radio station Triple J. The decision for "Frankie Sinatra" to be the lead single was not made by the group, but rather based on feedback from friends and management. In a radio interview aired immediately after the track's debut, the title of the album was revealed and a release date was provided of 8 July 2016, nearly 16 years after the release of Since I Left You. On 15 June, Zane Lowe's Beats1 show premiered a second track from the album, "Colours". On 1 July, Wildflower was made available for streaming through music streaming service Apple Music. Apple Music had negotiated a deal to stream the album exclusively a week before its worldwide release. It was promoted through a heavy advertising campaign in Australia with television, online, and print advertising. == Critical reception ==

Wildflower received widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average score of 83, based on 33 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Brad Shoup of Spin noted that while "the terrain is familiar, the subjects have changed," and the album as a whole "feels as though it was made for the Avalanches rather than a patient public." Tim Sendra of AllMusic felt that Wildflower "falls short of expectations, but still ends up being a pretty good album anyway" and considered the abundance of guest performers, with the exception of Jonathan Donahue, to be unnecessary, concluding that the group "ended up making the best psychedelic Chemical Brothers album ever instead of making another classic Avalanches album." Accolades ==Track listing==

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Wildflower. The Avalanches • Robbie Chater – production, writing, mixing, art direction • Tony Di Blasi – writing, additional production • James Dela Cruz • The Avalanches – keyboards (tracks 3, 5, 9, 11, 12 and 20), melodica (track 3), accordion (tracks 3 and 12), drums (tracks 3, 11, 12, 15, 20 and 21), bass (tracks 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 17 and 19–21), guitars (tracks 4, 5, 10, 14, 15, 20 and 21), synthesisers (tracks 4, 6, 7 and 17–19), percussion (tracks 4, 6, 7, 11, 15 and 17–19), vocals (tracks 6, 7, 11, 12 and 21), Mellotron (tracks 7, 11, 14 and 17–20), munching (track 9), Moog synthesiser (tracks 10, 15 and 21), melodeon (tracks 12 and 14), orchestration (track 15), FM radio (track 21) Additional musicians • Camp Lo – vocals on "Because I'm Me" • Sonny Cheeba • Geechi Suede • Danny Brown – vocals on "Frankie Sinatra" and "The Wozard of Iz" • Doom – vocals on "Frankie Sinatra" • Wilmoth Houdini – vocals on "Frankie Sinatra" • Jean-Michel Bernard – orchestration on "Frankie Sinatra", "The Noisy Eater" and "Wildflower", guitar on "Wildflower" • Rye Rye – additional vocals on "Going Home" • Kevin Parker – additional drums on "Going Home" • Chaz Bundick – vocals and guitar on "If I Was a Folkstar" • Jonti Danilewitz – vocals on "If I Was a Folkstar" and "Harmony" • A.Dd+ – vocals on "If I Was a Folkstar" and "Live a Lifetime Love" • Dionte "Slim Gravy" Rembert • Arrias "Paris Pershun" Walls • Jonathan Donahue – vocals on "Colours", "Harmony" and "Kaleidoscopic Lovers", bowed saw on "Wildflower" and "Harmony" • Biz Markie – vocals and munching on "The Noisy Eater" • Leslie Ritter – vocals on "Harmony" • Beth Chapin Reineke – vocals on "Harmony" • Alise Marie – vocals on "Harmony" • Shags Chamberlain – bass on "Harmony" • Dominique Young Unique – vocals on "Live a Lifetime Love" and "The Wozard of Iz" • Jennifer Herrema – vocals on "Stepkids" • Kurt Midness – vocals on "Stepkids" • Warren Ellis – violin on "Stepkids" • David Berman – vocals on "Saturday Night Inside Out" • Josh Tillman – vocals on "Saturday Night Inside Out" Technical personnel • Tony Espie – mixing • Aaron Dobos – assistant engineering • Michael O'Connell – assistant engineering • Matthew Neighbour – assistant engineering • Joe LaPorta – mastering • Scott Petiito – recording on "Colours" and "Kaleidoscopic Lovers" • Nadav Eisenman – recording on "Stepkids" • Warren Ellis – recording on "Stepkids" • Loney John Hutchins – recording on "Saturday Night Inside Out" Artwork • Chris Hopkins – art direction, design, illustration • Emi Ueoka – illustration • Fergadelic – butterfly logo • Gen Kay – cover and inlay photography • David Corio – Biz Markie photograph • Kris Vierra – quilting and textiles == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==