Near to the Wild Heart of Life is the third studio album by the Canadian rock duo Japandroids, released on January 27, 2017, by ANTI-.

Described by the band as their first attempt at making a "proper studio album", it features a more polished aesthetic than their previous releases.

The album produced three singles: “Near to the Wild Heart of Life”, “No Known Drink or Drug”, and “North East South West”.

In an interview with The Independent, King cited exhaustion as the primary motivation: When we got home, we were just totally destroyed, really burnt out both physically and mentally; at that point, we hadn't taken a serious break from the band in five years.

[2]In late 2014, the band reconvened in New Orleans to begin writing new material: "We rented a house and spent about five weeks there, with all the gear in the living room, just playing every day.

[2]The band allowed themselves more time in the studio than usual in order to experiment with overdubs, as well as guitar effects, loops, and synthesizers.

Prowse elaborated, “There are different guitar tones and textures from song-to-song, and the drum sound changes a fair amount among other things.

But the anxious, slash-and-burn abandon of old has matured into a steadier hand and confident poise; the gritty surface buffed away for a radio-ready polish; the duo’s minimalism blown open to absorb the infinite possibilities of the recording studio.

We'd kind of put together a formula by that point, and it just wasn't interesting or inspiring for us to make another record by cranking up the amps, bashing away on the drums, and doing a whole album of full-blown rockers with a slightly slower song at the end.

[8]King has repeatedly cited both Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt as major influences on the album: "Lyrically, this album was heavily influenced by both Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt, as they were the two artists that I listened to the most during the past few years, and whose sense of storytelling I tried to emulate in my own songwriting.

"[2] As Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times noted, "Once content to make greasy, direct and triumphant major-chord anthems about girls, drinking and other forms of escape, the band pushes deeper and wider, especially lyrically, in new songs, weighing what it means to have dedicated a life to such pursuits.

[12] It included songs by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Gil Scott-Heron, Marianne Faithfull, Patti Smith, Mick Harvey, and Game Theory amongst others.

[13] Regarding the lyrical content of the album's second track, "North East South West", King noted, "Between those four years on Celebration Rock, we traveled the world.

[14] In an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), King explained the title: There's a novel by Clarice Lispector, the Brazilian author, called Near To The Wild Heart.

[15]On October 31, 2016, Japandroids announced their third album Near to the Wild Heart of Life via a teaser video featuring live footage from their 4-night stand at The Cobalt in Vancouver.

They seem to share the kind of philosophy about how to negotiate art and commerce in a way that we can understand and agree with and still have complete creative control.

[34] In a mostly positive review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised Japandroids' decision to expand upon their sound: "Near to the Wild Heart of Life contains a few new production flourishes, particularly a hint of synthesizers, which means that it sounds even bigger than Celebration Rock, but that should've been expected, too, from these students of rock & roll.

"[35] In another positive review for Rolling Stone, Will Hermes praises drummer David Prowse's contributions and the album's anthemic nature: "With guitars soaring and grooves accelerating, the words feel undeniable, and you know that when you hear 'em in a club – or theater, or arena – you'll be bouncing off the walls, shouting every word.

"[38] Similarly, Kate Hutchinson wrote in The Guardian: "Their third album, is so luxuriously gnarled it roars out of the speakers like the Revenant bear.

"[7] In a mixed review for Pitchfork, Matthew Ramirez noted, "Perhaps it's age, experience, a new record label, the inevitable artistic instinct to want to switch things up a little, but whatever the reason, Near to the Wild Heart of Life ultimately lacks the urgency of the band's best music.

Japandroids have always courted classic-cum-punk signification and appraisal, and it seems they haven't moved past their eager acceptance of those overtures.