by Chloe Avila | October 16th, 2026
Photo Credits: Wildwood Sessions on Instagram
Art inspires art, and that is exactly what happened here.
The Wildwood Sessions is music inspired by LAIKA Studio’s Wildwood. A collection of artists came together to explore Wildwood's characters, themes, and imaginative landscape. It transforms the world of the upcoming stop-motion film into something listeners can experience through music.
Arriving October 16, the album features 13 original tracks from artists including Still Woozy, Saya Gray, Aminé, Portugal. The Man, New Constellations, and The Decemberists. What’s so unique about this album drop is the direction of Wildwood Sessions and that it doesn’t have one. Each artist was free to interpret the story in their own way. Therefore, creating this collection of music reflects what comes from a world built on imagination and discovering the unknown.
And if you don’t get any of that from the album, well, at least you have an audible love letter to the Pacific Northwest. Based in Portland, Oregon, LAIKA Studio brings its signature stop-motion storytelling to the film adaptation of Wildwood, which is based on the bestselling novel by Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. The story of Wildwood takes place in Portland, all music artists on the album have deep ties to Portland or the Pacific Northwest, and even the co-executive producer of the album, Harlan Silverman, is Portland-based. Starting to understand why I called it a love letter to the PNW?
Wildwood Sessions opens with Still Woozy’s “Goldmine.” Opening with this song makes the listener feel welcomed into a new world, with dreamy guitar riffs and lyrics that feel questioning yet hopeful.
From there, Saya Gray’s “Some Days Are Made For Rain” offers a different perspective on the project. The plucking of guitar strings makes it feel as if raindrops are starting to fall, and then the beat drops, as if the small rain cloud turned into a full thunderstorm. Drawing you deeper into the storyline and into the woods, whether that’s a gentle push or shove, is up to the listener to determine.
Photo Credits: Wildwood Sessions on Instagram
Omari Jazz, Bocha, and Donte Thomas collaborated on "Nature In Me,” offering a meeting point between three artists within the larger project. The accompanying music video provides another visual entry point into Wildwood Sessions. This song adds to the vibe of this whole album/movie and is a love letter to Portland and nature.
Aminé follows with “Things Don’t Change,” adding another distinct voice to the collection. The beat feels almost childlike, upbeat, fast, and happy. The lyrics add a mature point of view, telling the audience to understand that people change and life is a learning process, but it’s worth it.
“You Can Count On Me,” by Portugal. The Man, who is going on tour with Greta Van Fleet in Summer 2027, adds a nice flair to this album. Positive is the only way to describe this song. It makes you want to get out of your seat and move your feet. The lyrics "Not every house is haunted" resonated with me the most. It is definitely worth a listen, or 50.
Ringdown’s “The Hill” is the embodiment of autumn. Time moves fast, and leaves slowly fall. Just like the song, it is slow at first and builds, like a soft autumn breeze.
With quickly, quickly’s “That’s Enough For Me," it is the perfect song to sit and stare out at the sea with someone you love. If this song doesn’t make you want to live out of your car and explore the world, well, did you even listen to it truly?
New Constellations’ “Evergreen” explores the relationship between music and places associated with emotions. This song feels like a plea from the main singer to someone they love, offering them help with new changes. The tune is melodic and has themes of exploration in sound, but the words are achingly truthful.
Three for Silver brings the album’s title directly into focus with “Wildwood,” by encouraging the listener to get fully immersed in the universe this project has created. It’s haunting yet intriguing, and that’s coming from someone who was scared of Scooby-Doo growing up. Makes me want to “come to the church in the Wildwood.”
“Rose Parade” by Ryan Oxford is a nice switch-up from the tune before it. With a mature view, the song has deeper lyrics set to a positive beat.
Rachel Fannan’s “Bad Influence” brings a rebellious, edgy energy to Wildwood Sessions. Fannan perfectly captures the excitement and thrill of breaking the rules and further embracing the unpredictable side of self-discovery. This is one of my favorite songs off the album, and it feels like it’s a perfect song for a coming-of-age movie.
quickly, quickly returns with “Anyway,” making them the only artists on the album to have two songs. The retro song blends into dreamy, offbeat instrumentation with a reflective sense of wonder. This furthers the whimsical soundscape this album has and is well suited to the imaginative world of Wildwood.
Finally, The Decemberists close the collection with “I Want to Be Lost,” bringing the project back to Colin Meloy, the author of Wildwood. The Decemberists use their signature folk-rock storytelling to capture the beauty of wandering into the unknown.
Ultimately, what makes Wildwood Sessions so unique is that rather than asking artists to sound alike, the album allows each contribution to stand on its own while connecting to a shared creative vision.
The album arriving on October 16, one week before LAIKA’s Wildwood hits theaters, offers listeners an opportunity to explore the film’s world through these unique perspectives and interpretations of the artists inspired by its story.
And to end this album review, I leave you with one question.
Are you ready to get lost?