The Avalanches Revealed the Samples on Their New Album, 'Wildflower'

In anticipation of the release of Wildflower, the Avalanches first album in 16 years which dropped Friday, Australia's Triple J spoke with the group about the myriad of samples that comprise the record. Like their debut, Since I Left You, their sophomore release is an eclectic and densely-packed work of art filled with random, left-of-center sounds and field recordings the group has collected over the years.

Their 15-second opening track, "The Leaves Were Falling," features a sample from a 1950s home recording by Dion McGregor, an American somniloquist. "Frankie Sinatra," the first single from the new record features a sample of a song called "Bobby Sox Idol" by a 1930s calypso singer named Wilmouth Houdini.

It also includes a sample of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. "My favorite part about this song is the 'Favorite Things' sample, because growing up with five brothers and sisters we used to all watch musicals and The Sound of Music was one of the favorites," said band member Tony Di Blasi. "We were like little Von Trapp family singers ourselves."

And "Subways," their latest single, features a sample of Chandra Oppenheim's "Subways" from 1980. She was only 12 at the time of her recording. "It must be very strange for her today to hear her 12-year-old self sampled in another dimension exploded around in space and time, coming back out through the radio again," said band member Robbie Chater.

Read the entire interview on Triple J's website and stream Wildflower below. Last month, we interviewed Chandra Oppenheim about what it feels like to get sampled 36 years later.