Alternative/prog metal outfit Loathe shared their surprising new record The Things They Believe via Sharp Tone Record. A beautiful collection of ambient instrumental pieces and atmospheric sonic scapes, the project premiered in the early hours of Sunday 7 February, exactly a year to the date from the release date of their monumental sophomore album I Let It In and It Took Everything (2020).
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.
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
