It's been more than a decade since Boston post-hardcore band the Saddest Landscape released an album, but they're breaking that hiatus in a big way.
Alone With Heaven, the group's new LP dropping in April, boasts an impressive list of contributors. The late Steve Albini worked on it, as did his fellow analog recording devotee Jack Shirley. Featured guests include Julien Baker, Touché Amoré's Jeremy Bolm, and Into It. Over It.'s Evan Weiss. The record also boasts art from Daniel Danger, whose previous clients include the Cure, Nine Inch Nails, and Guillermo del Toro.
A flurry of names like that is one way to grab my attention; another is by blasting from the gate with a track like "From Home They Run," the whirlwind of aggression that serves as the new album's official lead single. The Saddest Landscape's Andy Maddox offered this statement on the track:
There are three aspects that come to mind immediately when I think of this song. The first is how stoked I was when I heard Daniel's guitar part for the middle section, it was pure melody, pure tension, and I was so thankful it was on our record. The second is I now had to add lyrics to it that succinctly expressed the essence of the part. Those of us who live with constant anxiety/depression know those almost divine moments when these issues stop for a moment and one can feel relief even though they will come again. This is that part. The third is the end section, where the bass hits come crashing in, surrounded by driving octave chords that ebb/flow like an emotional wave breaking. I could ride that part until dawn.
Hear "From Home They Run" below along with "Hexes," which is perhaps even more intense.
TRACKLIST:
01 "The Hell I Know"
02 "From Home They Run"
03 "A Badge Of Sorrow"
04 "Forever Undone"
05 "Bury In Time"
06 "Hexes"
07 "A Loss Of Certainty"
08 "The Invisible Hurt" (Feat. Julien Baker)
09 "Kissed By Strangers"
10 "Hold Until It Hurts" (Feat. Jeremy Bolm)
11 "A Crow Black Wind"
12 "The Cold And The Stars"
13 "Where Angels Ascend" (Feat. Into It. Over It.)
14 "A Badge Of Hope"
15 "A Shadow Of Faith"
16 "Alone With Heaven"
Alone With Heaven is out 4/24 via Iodine. Pre-order it here.
