Epic. Energetic. Infinitely wide. What is the difference between a charming smile and a broad grin? Perhaps the finesse, the latent subtlety, the secrecy and maybe even the not quite obvious.

In this sense, The Wide’s new album title Smile (out October 29th, 2022 via Echozone) is a time travel into the subconscious, musically floating between dream pop and indie rock; sound wise perfectly balanced, almost like its very own genre in a musical cosmos divided into categories.

Originating from Mönchengladbach, Germany, the band goes beyond musical boundaries with their second album (following the debut album Paramount, 2018).

The five musicians from Scotland, England, Switzerland and Germany see themselves as crossover artists who come together again and again like attracted by a magnet to create a homogeneous, room-filling sound with every tune and every note of their songs.

The live performance unlocks the experience immediately for they are very spherical-hypnotic, led by almost heroic-melodic vocals, the songs lodge themselves into the brain area in charge of listening and feeling and captivate the audience forever.

The Wide were founded in 2016 by ex-members of Dead Guitars. Before then, singer Pete Brough, bass player Kurt Schmidt and drummer Hermann Eugster caused a stir with 12 Drummers Drumming and the album Loveless at the beginning of the ’90s.

Today, The Wide’s line-up consists of the aforementioned three and the newly recruited guitarists Roo Hobbers and Sebastian Kühl. Roo played in several well-known UK bands like The Vaulted Skies and Sebastian, the youngest of the band, was vocalist and guitarist for Zone5 (and both come complete with a crazy devotion to atmospheric guitar sounds).

And trust me when I say that the accomplished guitar work supported by Pete Brough on acoustic guitar is one of the most exciting sound scenarios which have been captured on hardware and converted into megabytes in the indie genre in recent years.

Smile was produced, recorded and mixed by bassist and mastermind Kurt Schmidt with whom vocalist Pete entertains a live-long friendship and spiritual kinship.

1. I Believe (3:16)
2. Smile (5:29)
3. See The Light (4:25)
4. Angels Wander (6:09)
5. Alone (4:59)
6. Shame (6:11)
7. Golden Blunder (5:02)
8. Happiness Fades (4:21)
9. Anything (5:14)
10. Cry Babies Cry (1:40)

Opening on the Cure-imbued melodies and rhythms of I Believe and the early ’90s indie vibe of the titular Smile, they are in turn followed by the euphorically-charged See The Light, the guitar-led Angels Wander, and then comes the sonically-driven Alone.

Up next is the acoustically free wheeling melodies within Shame and the synth-powered Golden Blunder, and they are in turn followed by the veritably shimmering, Smiths-atmospheric Happiness Fades, the album rounding out on the dulcet indie rock Anything, coming to a close on the short, but sweetly acoustic, fragile Cry Babies Cry.

Official Purchase Link

Official Website

The Wide @ Facebook