In the past year every album under the sun has been viewed through a lens of the current predicament in which the world finds itself. To project certain narratives and meaning into a release is only natural, of course, given the extent to which the pandemic has consumed our day-to-day lives in a myriad of ways, but the impending release from Breaths is the first we’ve encountered that explicitly confronts the events of this past year head-on.
Lined In Silver is a breathtaking proposition, fuelled by shimmering post-rock but bolstered by heavier textures from the realms of doom, hardcore and blackgaze. In its most poignant moments the record channels the anxiety and grief that have come with living through a pandemic, but as the album title suggests, the record is more interested in the hope underneath all the gloom. For Jason Roberts, the creative mind behind the project, this came in the form of family, with the initial spark coming after a bout of sleep paralysis soon after the birth of his son, just before the pandemic hit.
Though the album isn’t afraid to explore the despondency felt by all in recent months, with the title-track asking “It’s been a year from hell, where is the reprieve?”, it’s nevertheless a much-needed glimmer of something more positive, a cathartic exploration of this dire year.
Today, we’re excited to be bringing you a glimpse at this album before it’s full release later this month in the form of a lyric video for ‘Like Wires’. Musically the track serves as a good introduction to Breaths’ music, drifting from atmospheric post-rock to moments of post-black metal and finally building to a chugging crescendo towards the end. Check it out below.
Lined In Silver is out 26th March via Trepanation Recordings. Order here.
Words: George Parr