Wildflower is a two-step slow dance with your high school sweetheart and Gringo are the band: cool, collected, and far too talented to be playing at the local hall.
Aptly hailing from the capital of chill, California herself, Gringo come denim-clad and wanting. After a substantial four-year hiatus from new releases, the four-piece return with Wildflower. Where their previous releases hinted at a preference for surf-psych jams, this new single wavers favour to a slower pace.
If Allah-Las and The Teskey Brothers bore a love child, you’d be dancing around the living room to the vinyl pressed crackling of Wildflower. Ryan Gillespie has been at the helm of a group that’s navigated lineup re-shuffling and DIY production to settle on a ’50s-inspired pop soundscape. Teasing a twelve-track release, the boys from Redding stamp out new, more romantic territory, with the same psych-thrill of before.
Modern dating has never looked so charming on the video for Wildflower. Taking a trip to the band’s local skating rink, the swirling sensation of new love will lull you into nostalgic rhythms. Gringo have replaced drive-ins with laced up rollerblades and twangy guitars with comforting bass.
Just when you think the soothing lethargy of Wildflower has softened you all over, electric guitars bring the song home. Adorned with popcorn and first date jitters, the clip lights up with a neon pink glow as a fuzzy solo croons in. Revisiting the surf-psych tendencies, the fast crescendo is a thrilling finish. And by this point, you’ll be as lovestruck as the protagonist.
View this post on Instagram
Directed by Luke Manwaring, Wildflower is captured with crisp, beautifully graded shots. You won’t find any of that vintage Super8 trend here. Each frame bounces between macro and micro focusing, allowing for the after-glow of the song to linger much longer than the four-minute duration.
Watch this space for Gringo’s impending sophomore album Tumbleweed.
Surrender yourself over to the crooning melodies of Wildflower below:
