Wild Fire releases “Rolling With the Stones” (Single/Video)

Stunningly soft and undisputedly country in spirit – despite their strong pop overtones – the lyrics in Wild Fire’s “Rolling With the Stones” are made all the more vital by the incredible voice through which they’re delivered to us this summer. If you’ve been keeping up with country lately, you’ve probably already heard a little but about this Texas duo and their magnetizing sound. Building off of the ongoing trend in crossover country-pop, Wild Fire issue a statement single in “Rolling With the Stones” that is almost certain to get you interested in the non-Nashville, indie Americana sound gaining steam in the underground.

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/wildfiresings

As much as this track centers on the vocals from Wild Fire, there’s a lot of extra kick to this groove that makes it almost perfect for moving your hips. There’s a moderate sway to the percussion that makes it clear we’re listening to something with western roots, but it never interrupts the steady flow of the vocal harmony, which is the constant linchpin holding all of the other components in the mix together. Wild Fire are the glue here, while the composition itself is a masterful puzzle of emotionality and self-assertiveness, both of which have been largely absent from mainstream country in the last couple of years.

The string play in “Rolling With the Stones” acts as a wonderful buffer between the beat and our two singers, and had it not been given as much of a polished sound in the grander scheme of things, I don’t know that the track would feel as pop-friendly as it ultimately does in this scenario. What separates the crossovers from the plain pop artists in this game has little to do with surface level aesthetics and almost everything to do with compositional integrity, and underneath it all, this song has the bones of an acoustic country ballad that has simply been supercharged for the FM dial.

Try as you might, I don’t think you’re going to be able to locate an instance of unsureness on the part of Wild Fire in this latest release; from start to finish they’re swaggering, but they’ve also got more than a few moments of dominating the other melodic elements in this song. Theirs is a sound that is swelling beyond the control of these small-scale releases, which tells me that they’re ready to finally record a full-length studio album sooner than later.

SOUNDCLOUD: http://soundcloud.com/wildfiresings

Constant growth is essential in both the pop and country music genres, but this isn’t much of a concern for Wild Fire – they’re capitalizing on the momentum that launched their career just a few years ago in “One” with the release of “Rolling With the Stones,” and judging from the ambitiousness of the material they’ve recorded so far, I don’t see them slowing down anytime soon. This is a good time to be a fan of the emerging country scene in the American underground; not only because of young talent like these two, but because of the amalgamation of influences and creative possibilities they offer a new chapter in the genre’s long and storied  history.

Michael Rand