Thurston Moore returns to celebrate Earth Day with “Rewilding,” an ode to the UK’s land restoration and renewal program.
With a hypnotic, percussive-groove, Moore delves into a nature-induced dream state. “This terrain is changing/ Rewilding, rearranging/ So I’m singing for animals/ Outside here just grazing,” Moore mutters at the song’s beginning, with My Bloody Valentine bassist Deb Googe laying a thick, repetitive bassline below him.
“Don’t you dare wake me/ A butterfly just kissed me,” he sings. Though there are traces of menace and doubt in the song’s trance-like, psychedelic energy, the environmental revival that Moore describes lends itself to flourishing peace.
“Rewilding” isn’t just an Earth Day special, it’s the latest tribute from his forthcoming album, Samurai Walkman: Flow Critical Lucidity. He previously shared album cuts “Hypnogram” and “Isadora,” which arrived with a music video starring Sky Ferreira. Moore hasn’t confirmed the release day for Samurai Walkman: Flow Critical Lucidity as of yet.
In addition to working on his new album, Moore published Sonic Life, his memoir, last year. He was set to be on a book tour, but had to cancel due to a “debilitating” health condition involving a heart rhythm abnormality. He provided an update in October claiming that “the prognosis is very good” and was awaiting treatment. Moore appeared at Tennessee’s Big Ears festival back in March, so it seems that he is ready to get back on the road again. Thurston Moore’s last solo album was 2022’s Screen Time.