After enduring the crushing sorrow of loss and grief, The Darling Fire return with their sophomore release. “Distortions” is a dark and pensive journey in ten compositions that transcends both beauty and pain, seamlessly combining elements of shoegaze, post-hardcore, and metal. Ghostly female vocals float above a pounding wall of sound, sewn together with vast atmospheric waves. Bleak, somber, and enchanting.
Most will find “Distortions” to be a significant departure from their previous LP “Dark Celebration” as this recording is much more abrasive, gloomy, and brooding—more metal influenced than indie. The band felt that this new aggressive sound more accurately portrayed the sadness, rage, and pain they felt and that it seamlessly balanced with the hypnotizing softness of Jolie’s vocals. The outcome was an amalgamation of something beautiful, austere, and cathartic. It combines the haunting chills of My Bloody Valentine and the heaviness of Deftones. “It felt like a natural evolution for us to go in this direction—to create more movement…” says Jolie Lindholm, allowing the band to feel unconstrained while writing this album without having to force these songs to adhere to one genre or sound.
The vast collective experience of each member of The Darling Fire is exceptional by any measure. Members previously played with: Shai Hulud, Further Seems Forever, The Rocking Horse Winner, As Friends Rust, and Strongarm. An impressive collaboration that was only strengthened by working with Producer Jay Maas (Defeater, Title Fight, Bane) in the studio. The outcome is an impressive and ambitious album that will resonate with listeners of all underground music.
“I’ve had very specific dreams and nightmares throughout my life that I still remember vividly. A dream can blur the line between what is and isn’t real. At times, we may wake from a good dream and want to fall back into it; or we tell ourselves to wake from a nightmare, only to realize what’s happening on this plane is stranger than the one we just left.”
"Aching shoegaze prettiness and ethereal textures with stomping alt-metal guitars that have the thrust of bands like Deftones and Hum. Dark and heavy gigantic swells that build to epic showings of metallic might and melodic rock efficiency, fusing together the urgency of post-hardcore with the grandiosity of more patient, brooding and bigger-sounding genres." - REVOLVER
“This new LP dives into heavy shoegaze and sludge metal, with hints of Hum, Failure, Deftones, Jesu, and other lumbering riffers, as Jolie tops things off with a soaring, celestial wail.” – BROOKLYN VEGAN
The Darling Fire: Jolie Lindholm, Jeronimo Gomez, and Mike Carney.
Photo by: Miranda Nathanson
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Booking: thedarlingfireband@gmail.com
Press/PR: amy@atomsplitterpr.com