SOM To Release New Full-Length, The Shape Of Everything, January 21st, 2022 Via Pelagic Records; New Video Playing At BrooklynVegan + Preorders Available

November 9, 2021 Infrared Magazine Music News, News, Press Releases Comments Off

Photo by Samia Zaidi

SOM will release their anticipated new full-length, The Shape Of Everything, via Pelagic Records January 21st, 2022, today unveiling the record’s cover art, track listing, and a video for first single, “Animals.”

Following their Awake EP released this past Spring and their shimmering cover of Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted,” latest track “Animals” finds SOM refining a sound that has been called “doom pop” by Metal Injection, with ethereal heartfelt vocals atop huge riffs alternating between gritty and atmospheric. The accompanying video was directed by Toshadeva Palani (Alcest, Junius, Angel Olsen).

Following the acclaim accrued by 2018 debut The Fall, SOM — comprised of current and former members of Constants, Junius, and recent Grammy nominees Caspian — had planned to enter the studio in 2020 to record the follow-up. However, pandemic-induced lockdown forced them to improvise and record entirely remotely, producing 2021’s luscious Awake EP. This new workflow redefined SOM’s process, which carried into the completion of their forthcoming LP. Its concise compositions balance gritty riffs with airy vocal lines that will appeal to fans of Deftones and Tame Impala alike and are just as primed for rock radio as for shoegaze-loving connoisseurs.

“About halfway through the writing cycle for our new record, I woke up to an email from our guitar player Joel with an mp3 attached called ‘Animals,’” says vocalist and guitarist Will Benoit. “He sent it at like 3:00 or 4:00 am, so I knew he was excited to share something that he had obviously stayed up late working on. He was living in Richmond at the time, and this was during last year’s George Floyd protests, so he was front row watching monuments getting torn down and experiencing a real cultural shift. Later on, he said it was both horrible and inspiring.

“I was pretty blown away by the demo. From the first note of that lonely, haunting guitar intro all the way through the heightened tension of the instrumental outro — that was all in his original version, and it felt like lightning in a bottle that I had to dig in on immediately. I remember I was running errands all morning, and in the car, I was bouncing back and forth between listening to the demo and recording voice memos of all the vocal melodies on my phone. By 11:00am I had the chorus lyrics and harmonies worked out and by 2:00pm I was back in the studio and had all the vocals recorded pretty close to how they are on the album.”

It’s this creative efficiency and sense of intuition in songwriting that gives SOM’s The Shape Of Everything its compelling power. The intentional, self-imposed paradigm of minimalism, the aim to reduce each musical idea to its emotive essence is what makes the band sound huge — and of course the flawless, modern yet incredibly warm and rich production by Will Benoit himself.

View SOM’s “Animals” video, now playing at Brooklyn Vegan, at THIS LOCATION.

The Shape Of Everything will be available on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION. Fans of Deftones, Failure, Hum, Nothing, Slow Crush, Alcest, My Bloody Valentine, Tame Impala, and the like, pay heed.

The Shape Of Everything Track Listing:

Moment
Animals
Center
Shape
Clocks
Wrong
Heart Attack
Son of Winter

The Shape Of Everything was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Benoit’s own Radar Studio in Connecticut – New England’s first solar-powered recording facility. The tracks are part of SOM’s ongoing mission to “leave this place better than we found it.”

Benoit co-founded the outfit with drummer and former Constants colleague Duncan Rich, as well as Adai founder and now-Caspian drummer Justin Forrest. While touring on The Fall, the band recruited old friends guitarists Mike Repasch-Nieves and Joel M. Reynolds, both formerly of Junius and Driftoff. While many artists lumbered in inactivity, SOM used the darkness of recent times to create and heal. The Shape of Everything’s introspective bliss is an insight into the kind of harmony the quintet seek to cultivate in all facets of life.

The release of The Shape of Everything coincides with the band’s upcoming UK/EU tour supporting Katatonia and Solstafir. The journey runs from January 21st, 2022 through February 26th, 2022. See all confirmed dates below.

SOM w/ Katatonia, Solstafir:
1/21/2022 Tullikamari – Tampere, FI
1/22/2022 Kulttuuritalo – Helsinki, FI
1/23/2022 Helitehas – Tallinn, EE
1/25/2022 Stodola – Warsaw, PL
1/26/2022 Huxleys – Berlin, DE
1/27/2022 Longhorn – Stuttgart, DE
1/28/2022 Batschkapp – Frankfurt, DE
1/29/2022 Roxy – Prague, CZ
1/30/2022 Arena – Vienna, AT
2/01/2022 Akvarium Klub – Budapest, HU
2/02/2022 Backstage Werk – Munich, DE
2/03/2022 Komplex 457– Zurich, CH
2/04/2022 Live Club – Milan, IT
2/05/2022 Ninkasi Kao – Lyon, FR
2/07/2022 Kapital – Madrid, ES
2/08/2022 Apolo – Barcelona, ES
2/09/2022 Metronum – Toulouse, FR
2/11/2022 O2 Forum Kentish Town – London, UK
2/12/2022 O2 Ritz – Manchester, UK
2/13/2022 The Marble Factory – Bristol, UK
2/14/2022 Garage – Glasgow, UK
2/15/2022 KK’s Steelmill – Wolverhampton, UK
2/17/2022 Rockhal – Luxembourg, LI
2/18/2022 Patronaat – Haarlem, NL
2/19/2022 Essigfabrik – Cologne, DE
2/20/2022 Trianon – Paris, FR
2/22/2022 Trix – Antwerp, BE
2/23/2022 Gruenspan – Hamburg, DE
2/24/2022 Amager Bio – Copenhagen, DK
2/25/2022 Rockefeller – Oslo, NO
2/26/2022 Fållan – Stockholm, SE

“SOM play the kind of somber, glimmering music that exudes a heavy fog of emotion and introspection around it.” – Kerrang!

“For modern lovers looking for something dark, sensual, and just edgy enough, SOM have released a dreamy shoegaze post-rock paean to sinful lust and the false piety of a secret romance.” – Revolver

“Post-rock super-collective SOM features alumni of Caspian, Junius and Constants. If you like the idea of glacial post-rock that at times feels like Deftones at their most shoegazey, then go check it out.” — BBC Radio 1 Rock Show host Daniel P. Carter

“Putting a heavy twist on a classic shoegaze sound and delivering it all in a dreamy package that’s equal parts melancholic and ethereal. It’s time to escape Earth for a while.” — Rock Sound

“Perfect for laying in a pile of leaves while quietly pondering everywhere you went wrong in life.” – MetalSucks

SOM:
Will Benoit – vocals, guitars
Justin Forrest – bass
Mike Repasch-Nieves – guitars
Joel M. Reynolds – guitars
Duncan Rich – drums