Over the past decade, Explosions in the Sky’s cosmic-sized instrumentals have provided soundtracks to sports dramas, comedies and war films alike—but their style was cinematic even before they broke into Hollywood, using webs of electric guitar and drums to muster complex feelings that words couldn’t. The Wilderness, their seventh LP (and first non-score since 2011) finds the quartet functioning as a limitless rock orchestra, exploring bold new arrangements and textures“Logic of a Dream” is more nightmare than their usual teary-eyed reverie, piling on militant percussion and rocket-launch distortion. “Losing the Light” is a soft flurry of cello, piano and looped feedback—instead of climbing to an obvious crescendo, it lingers in this wintry atmosphere for six full minutes. And even when the quiet-loud dynamic recalls classic Explosions, the nuances feel fresh. “Colors in Space” lurches into a motorik lunar throb—wringing out maximum catharsis from a single splintered chord, and “Disintegration Anxiety” showcases an unexpected buoyancy with its Bonham-styled drum groove and math-rock guitar jitters—the closest to “funky” they’ve ever ventured. It would be easy for Explosions in the Sky to settle into a formulaic middle age. But as The Wilderness proves, their evolution is far from finished.