Explosions in the Sky - "Ten Billion People"

Explosions in the Sky have announced their new album End will be out in September and shared the lead single "Ten Billion People."

Naming your next album End can cause a bit of a stir amongst fans, but devotees of post-rock veterans Explosions in the Sky need not fear, the only end that is near for this band is their next record. Following 2016's The Wilderness, the band's seventh studio album is officially on the way, thus ending the longest drought between albums in their career (although in fairness, they did release a soundtrack back in 2021 for the nature documentary Big Bend). "Ten Billion People," the first song shared from the forthcoming album, starts of with with glitchy electronic bits that recall the textures they introduced on the last record before the song congeals into the epic builds and dynamics that they've long been known for and prove they still have plenty left in the tank. Of all the post-rock groups, there were very few who captured the loud-quiet-loud volley quite like Explosions in the Sky and "Ten Billion People" is another prime example of the band working through soft melodies before erupting with wide-screen cinematic grandeur that can turn a listener's most mundane moments in life into Main Character events that feel worthy of slow motion wonder. "Ten Billion People" won't change your opinion of the band, but anyone who has ever listened to the group should know what to expect by now and their consistency, at this point, is more impressive than them going into the studio to create something bold and new. When a formula like theirs has been so rewarding for so long, sticking to it and creating more beauty from the same mold is perhaps more exciting than changing to something that yields abysmal results. Old dogs don't need new tricks when the old ones are still this spectacular.

End is out September 15.