Wyldest – ‘The Universe is Loading’ album review: spectrality for the space age
Back in the late 1960s, the space age felt like something with infinite enthral and endless possibilities. The better part of six decades later, that same allure has taken a far more sinister turn. In a lot of ways, Wyldest wants to know how it felt way back at the beginning.
The Skinny: As the fourth album from the London singer, via Hand in Hive, The Universe is Loading seems like a fun indie-pop romp until you realise the true darker undercurrents beneath it. Exploring existentialism is certainly a bold move to make while still in a relatively early stage in one’s career – at this stage, other artists have normally just about found their footing and are comfortable with staying in their lane. It doesn’t seem that Wyldest has ever concerned herself much with that idea.
Over the course of 11 tracks, traversing the historical journey through the space age to the terror of artificial intelligence in the 2020s is a lot to ask. On one hand, there’s an almost comforting nostalgia of a theremin-style riff on ‘All It Would Take Is A Phone Call’, which wouldn’t go too amiss on a classic soundtrack like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Meanwhile, there’s also a disturbing sense of unrest on the opening track, ‘Collide’, which can only really be attributed to the technological horrors we find ourselves surrounded by today.
In many ways, it would make much more sense, from a narrative point of view, if this journey were travelled chronologically throughout the span of the record. On top of this, however, there are random run-of-the-mill romance tracks chucked in between, such as ‘Old Flame’, which leaves the whole thing feeling more than a little disjointed.
Individually, all the songs are an enjoyable, sometimes intriguing, listen – but putting them together is where the album loses a little punch.
The Verdict: I’ll admit it’s not exactly helpful to say, ‘I would have liked the album more, if only it changed to this,’ but on this one rare occasion, I’ll allow myself to indulge the dream.
If this had been a concept album, traversing the themes of spectrality that it started out on, then Wyldest could have been on to something truly brilliant. The reality is a record which is by no means bad, but ultimately lacking that beguiling enchantment that the listener is first lured in by.
Defining track: ‘All It Would Take Is A Phone Call’
Release date: November 14th, 2025 | Producer: Zoe Mead/Luciano Rossi | Label: Hand in Hive
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