Amazon Prime's The Wilds sought to make its audience scratch their heads over the twisty plots, but its unconventional music choices might be the biggest way the show tried to stand out. While the series around in time frequently, most of the music choices are much older than 10 years.
The Wilds is a survival melodrama with an absurd science twist about a group of girls stranded on an island, unaware it is all a monitored experiment. As if these elements weren't enough to contrast each other, the music featured in the show also raised some questions. The most heavily featured artist is Pink, who even gets her own a cappella rendition of "Raise Your Glass." In the show, the girls know all the lyrics to the 2010 hit song and sing it because Pink was a favorite artist of Jeanette, who died upon entry to the island. It's understandable for the girls to memorialize Jeanette in this way, but why Pink was made to be such a big part of the introduction to Jeanette remains unclear.
It seems like The Wilds was trying to endear itself in a quirky way to a slightly older demographic than the one the girls represent. If it was a budget issue, then there would be no reason to make explicit conversations about Pink. The coordination of Jeanette as a sympathetic character and the association of her personality with loving Pink helps the viewer bond to Jeanette through the unusual music preference. In other words, it gives the viewer something unique to latch onto. The Wilds clearly wanted to set itself apart, and not picking universally-loved current music was just another way of doing so.
The other bizarre music choice made into a spectacle is Martha's dream, where male stewards dance to DNCE's "Cake By the Ocean," which was released in 2015. This music choice is likely to have been either a way to keep viewers on their toes, or someone on the creative team wanted to revive a pop song they really loved. Using this song in a flashback that took place in 2015 would be apropos, but in a dream sequence, this is meant to be bizarre. The only connection to the events happening is that the girls are eating cake on a plane that is flying over an ocean, but such a literal reading of the song is gimmicky.
Other music choices may make sense in the plot, but still are obscure and outdated. When Leah and her lover are intimate for the first time, "I Won't Hurt You" by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band plays softly. This song is from 1966 and underscores the scene with mellow hippie vibes, making it an odd choice for a scene about losing virginity. A song from the psychedelic '60s could have been used to highlight Leah and her lover's deep, soulful connection, rather than emphasizing the lustfulness of the relationship.
The Wilds reached deep into their Spotify to create strange music sequences, most likely to continue the trend of defying viewer expectations. However, much like its mashup of high-concept plots, the music is a mess that's meant to catch the audience's attention.
The Wilds was created by Sarah Streicher and stars Rachel Griffiths, Mia Healey, Helena Howard, Shannon Berry and Sophia Ali. All 10 episodes of the first season of The Wilds is available on Amazon Prime Video.