The Avalanches – Wildflower (2xLP, 2026 Repress)

The Avalanches' Wildflower arrived in 2016, ending the long 16-year gap after Since I Left You and opening a new chapter for the Australian group. Rather than simply trying to repeat their debut, Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi steered the project toward a warmer, more psychedelic palette, folding sunshine pop, hip-hop and dense sample collage into something that plays like a continuous, hazy summer journey.

Built from forgotten records, homemade recordings and found sounds, Wildflower balances the Avalanches' love of intricate assembly with a wider cast of guest voices. Danny Brown, MF DOOM, Toro y Moi, Biz Markie, Father John Misty and others drift in and out of its 21 tracks, while songs such as Because I'm Me, Frankie Sinatra and If I Was A Folkstar show how playful the album can be without losing its sense of flow. The result is richly detailed but never fussy: strange, melodic and deeply affectionate toward the musical oddballs it draws from.

This 2026 return to vinyl is a welcome way back into one of the more distinctive comeback albums of the 2010s. If Since I Left You felt like an impossible act to follow, Wildflower works because it doesn't force the issue; it expands the Avalanches' world instead, with more songs, more guests and a looser, dreamier kind of storytelling.

Features

• 2xLP, Black Vinyl

Reviews

• At its best, Wildflower is a joyous journey - The Guardian
• joined by gorgeous instrumental interludes of the kind only the Avalanches can assemble - Pitchfork