At the beginning of the year, SharpTone Record shared a post teasing all acts from their roster with new music in preparation for 2021, including Loathe much to the surprise of fans and critics still hooked on their previous release. Two weeks ago, the band announced the surprise release of The Thins They Believe and confirmed the involvement of saxophonist John Waugh (1975), guitarist Peter Vybiral (Parting Gift), and Vincent Weight in the ambitious upcoming project.

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Публикация, споделена от Loathe (@loatheasone)

As a surprising yet appropriate continuation of the critically acclaimed  I Let It In And It Took Everything and the unusually disruptive year that followed its premiere, The Things They Believe offers a musical retreat from reality. Stripping Loathe’s previous record down to its sonic nucleus, it seemlessly expands its themes and forms a beautiful instrumental soundtrack of the troubled times we live in. The Liverpool quintet shared their latest project with the following message:

“The concept for ‘The Things They Believe’ was born from the incredible response to ‘I Let It In And It Took Everything’, which became the impetus to extend the identity and timeline of the record. Creating sonic landscapes and parallels that explore and expand further on the areas within ‘I Let It In And It Took Everything’. As we release this collection of atmospheres, we hope you lose yourself further within this chapter and, much like our love for soundtracks and soundscapes provides us with solace in times of distress and need, we hope you find comfort inside too.”

‘The Things They Believe’ Featuring John Waugh, Vincent Weight and Peter Vybiral. “Sharing the same air” February 7th. A year to the day. pic.twitter.com/FBxnS4OzhA — Loathe (@loatheasone) January 22, 2021

The Things They Believe consists of 12 individual tracks seemlessly intertwined in one 35-minute long ambient piece evoking silent contemplation and melancholy. The instrumental album is built on ambient sonic scapes mixed with real recordings of gentle rain and chirruping birds, occasionally backed with soulflul saxophone. The record is currenty available only as a digital release across all streaming platforms.

In an exclusive interview for Kerrang! from earlier today, guitarist Erik Bickerstaffe, bassist Feisal El-Khazragi and singer Kadeem France discussed the inspiration and creative process behind their unusual new release and time spent in lockdown:

​“Throughout lockdown, we all experienced what can only be described as extreme personality changes or periods of self-discovery. We’ve all been quite separated from each other, with me down here in Wales, Erik in St Helens, Connor being stranded in Belgium at this point, while only Kadeem and Sean actually live in central Liverpool. We had begun to find the comfort in ambient music, meditation and that kind of stuff. We wanted to create a similar soundscape to live within the universe of Loathe and the world of I Let It In… It’s just another place that you can go.”

Thank you, @KerrangMagazine.

“We had a great deal of pleasure in making it and taking our minds off everything that’s going on in the world. We wanted to pass that on to everyone else as well.”https://t.co/z11wg6LjKp

— Loathe (@loatheasone) February 7, 2021

‘Afterlife‘ dropped earlier today accompanied with official video by Zebrafish Media, known for their previous work for the likes of All Time Low, Circa Waves, Sum 41, Pendulum, Architects, and many more. The personel behind the music clip include Lewis Carter (director and editor), Jens Nielsen (producer), James Norbury (executive producer) and Nicholas Lee-Shield (DOP). You can buy and stream the single here.

Holding Absence proudly presents ‘Afterlife’, the second single from the forthcoming full-length album ‘The Greatest Mistake Of My Life’, out April 16th 2021 on @sharptonerecs.

Buy/stream ‘Afterlife’ now and preorder the album at https://t.co/PtLKBPdM8B pic.twitter.com/wbKRWqmsgq

— Holding Absence (@HoldingAbsence) January 15, 2021

‘Afterlife‘ is the second promotional single from their forthcoming album The Greatest Mistake Of My Life coming out in April via SharpTone Records. Back in October 2020 the Welsh band announced the release day of the record alongside the single ‘Beyond Belief‘. Holding Absence premiered two other tracks last year ‘Gravity‘ and ‘Birdcage‘ that appear to be standalone tracks not featured on their future record. The experimental/alternative rock outfit shared the following about The Greatest Mistake Of My Life:

“This album is about telling stories that are presented through the lens of hindsight, regret and looking back. There are songs that celebrate life when faced with death, and others that speak to the choices we make about how we live our lives. The fear of love, newfound respect for life and the covering up of depression are all subjects that reat their head. The Greatest Mistake Of My Life excercises emotion in many waysm and that was an important thing for us to do, because emotion isnt’ rigid – it’s not just love or joy or sadness – it’s a lot of things.”

The upcoming album is available to pre-order here on standard CD and LP as well as limited edition coloured vinyl, casettes and all sorts of merch bundles.

 

 

 

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Holding Absence formed back in 2015 in Cardiff and quickly build a respectable reputation as one of the most exciting new bands in the UK. The quartet joined the ranks of SharpTone Records in 2017 and released This Is As One, a split EP with Loathe the year after, followed immediately by their self-titled debut full-studio album in 2019. Holding Absence have already toured with the likes of Counterparts, As It Is, Being As An Oceans and Sleeping With Sirens, alongside performing at major festicals such as Download and Slam Dunk.

After a few line-up changes, Holding Absence currently consists of James Joseph (bass), Ashley Green (drums), Lucas Woodland (vocals, keyboards) and Scott Carey (guitar). The band is currently scheduled to embark on a UK Tour with Creeper in March, although this is looking very unlikely in the current situation. In October and November they are embarking on their headline European and UK ‘Live And In Colour’ Tour, with tickets available here.

The announcement came out yesterday with the ambiguous caption “Coming in 2021” and no further details whether it concerns full studio albums or standalone singles. The list included the four UK acts with highly anticipated new releases, alongside American heavyweights Miss May I, Bleeding Through and We Came As Romans, Japanese metalcore flagmen Crystal Lake, and Aussie punk outfit Stepson. Four extra slots seem to be reserved as “To Be Announced” so we can expect more news coming soon.

Coming in 2021:@DONBROCO @wecameasromans @missmayiband @HoldingAbsence @stepsonpunk @dyingwishhc @heartofgold_88 @loatheasone @CAPTIVES_UK @bleedingthrough @kingdomofgiants @Broadside_ @156Silence @CrystalLake777
TBA
TBA
TBA
&
TBA #sharptonerecords #st2021

— SharpTone Records (@sharptonerecs) January 6, 2021

From all British bands on the list, rising Welsh post-hardcore outfit Holding Absence are the only one with confirmed date for their upcoming album. Back in October 2020, the quartet released ‘Beyond Belief‘, announcing their second record The Greatest Mistake Of My Life for 16 April 2021, a quick follow-up to their 2019 critically acclaimed self-titled debut. Earlier last year the band dropped their first new single ‘Gravity‘ which was recently named on Loudwire’s ‘Best Rock Songs of 2020‘ list, calling them “one of the U.K.’s most exciting new bands“. Holding Absence were also one of the symbolic virtual headliners of the 2020 Heavy Music Awards.

As one of the most popular and commercially successful acts on SharpTone’s roster, Don Broco are also expected to drop a new album this year. Known for releasing new records every 3 year following their debut Priorities in 2012 and its follow-ups Automatic in 2015 and Technology in 2018, 2021 is set to be the Bedford outfit’s year once again. So far there have been two standalone singles from 2019 – ‘Half Man Half God‘ and ‘Action‘ but no new music from 2020. However, the last few months have seen the rock quartet frequently posting studio pics and videos alongside Grammy-awarded producer Jason Perry.

 

 

 

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Leeds alternative metal outfit Captives are the latest act to join SharpTone Records just a month ago, saying they were “humbled to be in the company of such talented and progressive artists” and “very excited to be working together moving forward and creating something special“. In December 2020, Captives shared their new single ‘Glass Heart‘ following the footsteps of their energetic early 2020 release ‘Falling Apart‘. The band is currently in studio getting ready to share their debut album, a highly awaited successor to their promising self-released EP Ghost Like You from 2019.

SharpTone’s announcement also included the Liverpool metal favourites Loathe, but at this stage it is uncertain if there are new singles and videos to be released or a whole album in preparation for 2021, the latter being somewhat unlikely. Less than a year ago, the band premiered their second record I Let It In And It Took Everything as one of the definite highlights of 2020 and an ambitious step forward. Widely praised and admired the album received very positive reviews, with Kerrang! naming Loathe a “genuinely impressive creative force who can do heavy in as many ways as it can present itself to them” and Louder predicting “the ambitious quintet’s rise to the pinnacle of the British heavy underground music scene“.

10 million strong and growing.

Thank you. pic.twitter.com/qht7yEdzh1

— Loathe (@loatheasone) January 2, 2021

Further updates are expected on all of the bands mentioned but 2021 is already shaping to be an exciting year for rock and metal music, with SharpTone Records planning to take central place on the scene.