The Wilderness of Manitoba Return With New Single “The Alchemist”; Announce Upcoming Album
Now into their twelfth year as a band, Toronto’s The Wilderness of Manitoba have returned from a three year hiatus to announce a new album Farewell To Cathedral, out October 29th. Recorded over a short, two-day period, the album captured the songs at their most pure and raw stages. Included in the pack is the lead single and video “The Alchemist”.
Singer/multi-instrumentalist and founder, Will Whitwham, says on the group characterizing themselves as an evolving entity: “I’ve always been a believer in fresh collaborations because everyone you meet influences your creative process in some way. It’s up to you to decide whether they fuel it or stagnate it. In this particular case, the four of us together was the best fit for the current batch of songs“.
“The Alchemist” was produced by Graham Stairs and written about the turn of seasons and the elusiveness of time as it passes. Whitwham says on the track, “It is a song about reflecting upon what one had. The alchemist himself (as the character suggests) is uncertain of whether he can even make silver, let alone gold. There is worry even in hopefulness. He is still drawn to his muse even though she appears to have left as he tries to find her or pieces of her in the sacredness of nature because that’s the closest he feels he can get to her. Lost in dreams and buried in his own sea of thoughts, he seeks to immortalize her memory and spirit.”
On the accompanying seasonally and resonate visuals, also conceived, filmed and edited by Whitwham, he adds, “The Alchemist was filmed in an attempt to depict all four seasons. The video is a snapshot of how I was dealing with and living throughout isolation. Capturing and spending time in nature can be healing in both the best and worst of times. It is also the visual vehicle for illustrating the song’s journey in its ‘passing of time’ over a year.”
The group’s rustic and lush folk sound comes out in hypnotic fashion, soundtracking the vintage-footage music video.
Farewell To Cathedral Tracklist:
1. Oblivion2. The Well Has Run Dry
3. Sometimes
4. The Alchemist
5. Send Me To The Fire
6. The Ghost Of Abilene
7. Always (Violet Hour)
8. In An Honest Way
9. Lost In Her Ocean
10. Furious Seasons
