It may seem counterintuitive to first notice and bask in the silence of an album, when music is quite literally about the sound created. But something genius unfurls from the quiet as Wolfskill & the Wild’s Feral Heart comes into view. A good 10-second fade-in and 20-second fade-out bookend the beginning track, “Beautiful Memories,” with stillness. Violin and guitar careen in and subside — waves of sound and feeling, anchored in and returning to that initial stillness.
But, of course, Quad City-based indie folk duo Wolfskill & The Wild are anything but silent and still. Feral Heart is a debut EP written over seven months, meticulously produced, fundraised and lovingly released into the world. The frenetic drive to musically create and the ferality of the title narrator’s heart is evident. Which works as counterpoint to the inherent restfulness of the band’s folk sound.
At the heart (feral or tamed) of any folk music project is a certain warmth and contemplation, best heard in its narration and instrumentation. Here, the warmth is deftly captured by Madison Anthony’s soaring violin, the beating center of each of the tracks. J. Wolfskill’s raw and gravelly vocals — its sorrows and joys — ponder lost love and time. If the pulsating violin is the project’s core, the lyrics and the candid shouts of each word are the feral heart — growing with abandon out of longing, unruly but hopeful.
A full hero’s journey takes place across Feral Heart’s five tracks. Wolfskill & The Wild mark these rest stops and story arcs with clarity: the hero battles “through lasting love, with trials, tribulations, determination, rebirthings and ultimately elixir.”
The first stop on a hero’s adventure — lasting love and its trials — is presented contemplatively in the quiet of “Beautiful Memories,” and in the dejectedness of “Take Me As I Am.” As that love breaks open, folky growls poetically plead, “Don’t take me as I was, take me as I am.” The paired guitar and violin soar over each other in a harmonious coupling, contrasting against the layered shouts of desperation.
Tribulations follow soon after, as the relentlessness of time is questioned by a troubadour unloading by a campfire. This wallowing is dashed quickly jumping into standout track “Pursuit,” with layered, haunted vocals, the violin kicking into gear at a progressively quickening pace.
Anthony’s violin proves to be as much a storyteller as each song’s wistful lyrics, presenting hesitation, franticness and, finally, joy on the closing track “Lights Went Out.” It soars, it warbles and it sings. By the time the listener reaches the band’s form of elixir, of long-lost lovers and long-lost selves, Feral Heart reaches its full swell of atmosphere. The smell of pine needles accompany the soundscapes, every lyric bathed by the warmth of a crackling fire. Lyrics of satisfaction and simplicity are clothed in those warm harmonies. Ultimately, the quiet is so very loud here.
Related event:
Wolfskill & The Wild Vinyl Record Release Show, Ragged Records, Davenport, Friday, May 30, 6 p.m.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s May 2025 issue.
