Heavy on Wombo’s mind are the simple effects of coexistence. The imagery throughout ‘Fairy Rust’ often hints toward the juxtaposition of the city and the wilderness that surrounds it. In “Below the House,” Chadwick contemplates “some things are better if we leave them alone,” and in “Sour Sun” ruminates: “underneath the hill was a hidden town / buried were the fields and the buildings drowned.” There’s a multitude of references to earth and water throughout the record, while the band contemplates the impact of the elements and the ability for human nature to leave its mark for better or for worse. “We are trying to speak on something called sacred darkness in mythology. It means that darkness is not always a negative and is a necessary part of the equal balance between light and dark and sometimes it can signify renewal and the birth of creativity.” In the weird world of Wombo, regular demons are just a party of everyday life, with shadowy natures that are always half in and half out of step with morality and the setting of rules. The record upholds the certain romance that comes with knowing that no matter what, life is out of our immediate control, and the planet will persevere, with or without us.
Wombo stress that the unknown is key to the ongoing journey of self-discovery. The future cannot be predicted, and ambiguity should be understood as a crucial part of life. According to Chadwick, “endings are always beyond my level of understanding or comprehending, or knowing at all. I wanted to end the album with that kind of message, that the mysteries in life are not to be solved but experienced and respected, to be kept at a distance.” With ‘Fairy Rust’ the band present one moment of fragile time that reverberates throughout human experience.