I like to think that Shadwick Wilde and I have grown up together. His 2013 album I Am the Morning with the Quiet Hollers is fairly pivotal to my 20s, and Shadwick and I have been chatting back and forth ever since: career changes, parenthood, mental health crises and recovery — it’s as if life keeps happening. Wilde is nothing if not inventive, caroming through all kinds of sounds as he pushes his own boundaries. But here on Forever Home, he’s back to basics with an acoustic guitar — more or less. But in that homecoming, we see Wilde taking stock of his surroundings, learning to keep the best life has to offer and (respectfully) ditching the rest.
The previous singles off this record have been gentle and meditative, accepting loss and preparing for the beginnings that stem from them. Yet the strongest part of Forever Home is its middle, when Wilde breaks away from that sound. “Two Girls With Hazel Eyes” feel like an ancient folk song, but it’s as fresh as Wilde’s wounds, though the song itself is about being grateful to witness them healing over. “Better Version Of You” shakes the listener out of that sweet groove with a ranchero-inflected horn section, calling us to attend to the growth that is always so painful and necessary in life.
Forever Home serves as Wilde’s playground, from folk to rock to a Roy Orbinson-inspired ballad that defies the devil — literally. Through it all is Wilde’s deep commitment to self-reflection and to protect everything that makes life worth living, even the bad stuff.
Forever Home will be available on all streaming services tomorrow, 9/22.