Breathe is the bleak new single by new band, The Silver, including members of Horrendous and Crypt Sermon. The group's debut full length, Ward of Roses, comes out on October 15th, 2021 via Gilead Media.
The band's own Matt Knox comments on the new track: "Breathe is an ode to the martyrs who’ve entered our lives-both those we’ve sought, and those who were, by chance, given to us. It’s about the pain of knowing that what they’ve sacrificed for you can never be returned, and that despite your best efforts, you are powerless to save them. Musically, Breathe circulates between hazy/faded nostalgic dreamscapes and the raw sufferings of one's most private Golgotha, evoking all the while the monuments we all build in the name of pain."
Distressing vocally, with noticeable instrumental strength and intensity, the new track goes through different kinds of metal extremes, while it also lays bare the band's propensity for something much more sentimental and romanticized, all of which place the sound of The Silver firmly within the bounds of goth.
Presenting their own take on French synthpop, Xeno & Oaklander unveil Afar, the third single ahead of their album. Vi/deo, incoming October 22nd, 2021 through Dais Records. The track comes with an accompanying video in collaboration with visual artist Egan Frantz in his directorial debut.
The band comment: "Afar is an infectious French Disco song, mixed with minimal synth arrangements and bitter sweet French lyrics."
Afar marks one of the most approachable moments in Xeno & Oaklander's path, with Vi/deo having already being shaped as an engaging through its explicit exploration of synthpop's limits and its distinct interpretation of themes of isolation by way of a retro-futuristic perspective.
Baltimore-based post rock band, Seabreather, release Squalls, a quite euphonious and heavy piece which is the first and only single ahead of their forthcoming album, Off A Bow Echo, expected out on September 24th, 2021 via Forest Field Music.
Led by Quinn Struke, Seabreather come up with an accustomed and dense take on post rock, established on the genre's standards, with extensive compositions, a penchant for mellow melodies and thickset instrumentation. Squalls sounds like an archetypal, riff-based post rocker, with the orchestral approach providing the additional wonderment.
Like every Seabreather album, the idea for Off A Bow Echo is based on an element of nature, and this time the concept is rainstorms, as the band explores the far opposites of their sound, and parallelize the nature's variability with their own feelings in regard to the current state of the US and the entire world.
Weston Super Maim began as a solo instrumental endeavor by UK musician Tom Stevens (All Of Space, Brown Stratos), and in its current iteration it has evolved to an extreme metal duo with the addition of US-based Seth Detrick (PDP) on vocals. The band puts forward an unfathomably heavy take on contemporary progressive metal, with elements from thrash, death metal and hardcore shining as main components of their intricate sound.
180-Degree Murder is part of the band's two-song release of the same title, and it's a weighty number, not for the faint of heart. Technically complex and incredibly intense from end to end, the song is an expression of utter desolation, distress and nihilism, with ample amounts of fury intermingled into the mix. Weston Super Maim convey a more experimental/avant-garge side of technical death metal, and although they can be compared to voices already heard, their sound emerges like something exhilarating and perceptive.
180-Degree Murder is paired to an amazing clip of accordingly devastating visuals. Tom Stevens comments on it: “We wanted to make the most visually insane video possible, to match the craziness of the music, and it feels like we just about got there. The 3D animation is by UK designer Ben Koppel – I stumbled across his work on Instagram and immediately thought it was perfect for the song. It’s actually some work that he had already created independently and was kind enough to let us use for the video. The rest of the shots we amateurishly filmed at home, and then I spent several hundred hours editing it all together because I have no clue how to edit videos. Still, it turned out pretty good, and we are disturbingly excited to finally be able to share it!”
Having recently announced her ninth album, The Path of the Clouds, Marissa Nadler has revealed a new single and video off the anticipated album. If I Could Breathe Underwater is a richly instrumented, ethereal cut which features harp from Nadler's longtime friend Mary Lattimore, and comes with a beautiful visual directed and edited by Jenni Hensler with cinematography by Nick Fancher.
“When I wrote If I Could Breathe Underwater, I was contemplating the possibilities of possessing various superhuman powers: teleportation, shapeshifting, energy projection, aquatic breathing, extrasensory perception, and time travel to name a few,” Nadler comments on the new track. “As a lyrical device, I married those powers with events in my life, wondering if and how they could change the past or predict the future. I loved working on the melody for this song and bringing the choruses to their climaxes. Mary’s layered, hallucinatory shimmers really echo the netherworld of the story.”
Director Jenni Hensler says of the accompanying video which was shot on 16mm film: “This song took on many meanings to me and I love that about it. How beauty and tragedy collide. Dreaming of having supernatural powers to change reality and have the ability to live and breathe underwater. It could also speak to the duality of existence. That we all have inner personas or shadow selves, and how we envision those different masks we wear. I chose to make something that touched on the idea of duality and the inner persona. To connect to the two worlds.”
The Path of the Clouds comes out October 29th, 2021 through Sacred Bones and Bella Union.
Veteran psychedelic shoegazers, The High Violets, release B-Sides & Rarities, a showcase of their path from their early days and their formation in 1998, to the consummation of their dreampop sound which came in a very steady manner through the course of five full lengths, a few EPs and compilation appearances.
The Hight Violets formed after the breakup of Portland band The Bella Low, and released their first EP, Dream Away, in 1999. The band released music on Reverb Records, Comet Rock and Saint Marie, and their sound has been parallelized to acts such as Lush, The Sundays and The Cocteau Twins, bringing forth a lot of dreampop airiness and atmospherics by way of layered guitars and mellow vocals.
Album opener, Up Towards, finds The High Violets brimming with youthful vibrancy, delivering a grittier sound which harks back to shoegaze's earlier days. The recently unearthed is a fine example of the quartet's gleaming energy, and provides a good reason to champion them as one the genre's stronger lesser celebrated acts.
The High Violets are Kaitlyn ni Donovan (vocals, guitar), Clint Sargent (guitar), Colin Sheridan (bass) and Luke Strahota (drums).
Hugar return with a first example of their yet to be titled next album, set for release early next year through XXIM/Sony. Lost finds the duo of Bergur Þórisson and Pétur Jónsson stepping aside from the orchestral approach of their recent material, and attempting something ambient electronica-based, and thoroughly meditative.
The band's new material draws inspiration from the fault running through Þingvellir, the national park located 40 km northeast of Reykjavík. “There’s something almost magical about a powerful force literally ripping the land apart, and new life appearing in the space that’s created,” says Þórisson. “We wanted to translate that scenario onto these great, temporal shifts and upheaval in our world and ask: What happens? There must be something new that grows from them,” adds Jónsson.
More spacious and contemporary sounding, Hugar once again unfold the cinematic nature of their work, homogenizing elements from post rock, electronica and experimental ambiance.
The unveiling of single and video, Playing The Part, constitutes Hologram, the latest EP by A Place to Bury Strangers, a record whose all tracks have made enticing and engaging individual releases. With all five tracks out as singles, Hologram is definitely one of 2021 finest EPs, and Playing The Part marks a rather melodious moment for New York's notorious noise makers.
Playing The Part sees Oliver Ackermann delivering a superbly warm vocal which verges on dark crooner territory, bridging the gap between Lee Hazlewood and The Gun Club. The song comes with a video directed by Heather Bickford who also stars in it, filmed in a historic house in Flagstaff, Arizona. The scenery's vintage character becomes a perfect match to the music's mood, and APTBS once again leave a strong impression in an inherent and effortless manner.
The band have also announced the release of the upcoming Hologram: Destroyed & Reassembled remix release for Record Store Day, including Girl Band, Penelope Isles, Do Nothing, Bodega, Weeping Icon, Ganser, Ceremony East Coast as well as the rest of the Dedstrange roster.
Following on from the first volume of Explorations in Analog Synthesis which was released earlier in 2021, Moog Music continues its analog synth explorations with a new chapter, out on September 14th, 2021. The entire family of 60HP semi-modular analog synthesizers become more accessible than ever with Moog Sound Studio: Mother-32 and DFAM and Subharmonicon.
A new EP is also being released, Explorations in Analog Synthesis Volume II, with the roster this time including Boy Harsher, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Paula Temple and more.
The EP's opening number, Close Your Eyes, finds Boy Harsher creating something typical of their ultra dark and moody feel, while utilizing the most of the charming analog Moog synth sound.
Post punk has merit, it has distinction and value, it leaves a mark, it punctures the soul, and it doesn't sell out. This is a selection of tracks from favorite acts, from the genre's venerable earlier days.
