Cape Town alternative rock outfit Southern Wild have released their new album, The Art Of Feeling Nothing via Just Music.
Shaped by unexpected turns, distance, personal challenges and a renewed creative spirit, The Art Of Feeling Nothing is a deeply personal nine-track album. It captures not only the evolution of Southern Wild, but also the people the band have become along the way.
Since emerging in 2015, Southern Wild have spent the past decade shaping a distinctive sound where alternative rock, post-rock, neo-soul and folk meet.
Known for emotionally charged performances and a genre-crossing approach, the band has played main stages at festivals including Up The Creek, Rocking the Daisies, Smoking Dragon and Oppikoppi. They have also opened for international heavyweights Incubus and The Cure on their South African tours.
An Album That Took Longer Than Planned
Recording began in 2019 with producer Theo Crous, and what was meant to be a straightforward album session soon turned into a much longer road.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the process to a halt, and changing circumstances sent band members in different directions. Frontman Dave spent four years in Zambia, and for long stretches the album sat unfinished.
But the songs never disappeared.
When the band eventually reunited, they returned to the material with fresh perspectives and a renewed sense of purpose. The album itself came to mirror that journey: the first five tracks were written before life pulled the band apart, while the final four emerged after years of separation, capturing two very different chapters in their lives.
“Some albums capture a moment. This one captured the people we became while trying to finish it,” the band explains.
The Meaning Behind The Art Of Feeling Nothing
The album’s title speaks to the tension between holding on to the things that make us feel alive and the ways modern life can slowly teach us to suppress those feelings.
Through routine, responsibility, information overload and the inevitable changes that come with growing older, The Art Of Feeling Nothing explores the moments when feeling less becomes a way of coping. Rather than offering definitive answers, it leaves room for listeners to find their own meaning in the music.
A Re-energised Southern Wild
The lengthy recording process also brought changes to the band’s sound and line-up. Lead guitarist Conrad Birch joined along the way, and his distinctive, expansive guitar work became an integral part of the album’s final sound. Southern Wild now return as a re-energised four-piece, embracing a new chapter while keeping the musical identity that has defined them from the start.
Raw, unfiltered and drenched in emotion, The Art Of Feeling Nothing is more than an album that took six years to finish. It is a document of friendship, change, resilience and the lasting bond between four musicians and the songs that brought them back together.
You can stream/download the album HERE.
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