A More Natural Flavor for Wrestling with God and Life: Wild Sweet Orange's The Whale EP

As a band name, Wild Sweet Orange conjures up the taste sensation of an overpowering, more natural flavor which makes you realize that all other fruit is simply from an orange grove factory. Thankfully, Wild Sweet Orange lives up to this flavor in their sonic form as well.

“Wrestle with God,” the opening track of the band’s The Whale EP, is like the Band jammed up with Rhett Miller at the helm while having the ability to throw in a half-speed tag ending that’s slightly psychedelic, sounding like how the Old Testament patriarch Jacob might have been thinking and feeling after spending the night wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22-32) as Preston Lovingood sings, “If you want me, please come and find me/’cause I’ll be running/You know how I’ll be running.”

With its plaintive acoustic having all of the jam stripped away, “Tilt” seems to come from a soul overpowered by guilt and left knowing the ability to overcome cannot possibly come from within oneself. In fact, the track hit me on a day when I was very aware of my depraved mind (in fact, I’m aware of that most days). When the song’s chorus caught my attention (“And I fear what I’ve done/means I’ve lost what I learned”), I listened to the song again and saw it as a vivid, emotional, musical portrait of what it means to know that I am incapable of being who I want to be. At least, I can’t do that on my own. If you’ve ever locked yourself up in your room, barricaded by guilt, then this song speaks to your inner chamber and may even free you again.

As a bit of follow up thematically to “Tilt,” “Be Careful (What You Want)” has a more rocking groove. The EP closes out on the jam backbeat of “I’m Coming home” where I hear comparisons to Zox and Thomas Cunningham. The excitement in this song about returning to the love in your life again seems incredibly portent to someone like me who is spending time each week away from my wife (due to my new job). Thanks for the going home music, guys!

Wild Sweet Orange
Canvasback Music