Florida post-hardcore outfit Underoath have released a new single “Hallelujah” alongside announcing their upcoming seventh album ‘Voyeurist’, which releases January 14th via Fearless Records.
“Hallelujah” is a raging firestorm of a track, full of seething anger, chaotic guitars, and haunting choirs over urgent electronics and synthesizers. The track is the second single released this year following the surprise release “Damn Excuses”, which was the first taste we were given of the new record and the band’s return to a heavier, metalcore influenced sound.
Guitarist Tim McTague stated about the song,
“‘Hallelujah‘ was one of those songs that kind of just came out. We had a rough outline in a day or so, and then we started building around it. When Aaron [Gillespie] had the choir idea, which is almost a nod to “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door” in a way, we wanted to make it really dark sounding. We ended up getting a handful of our homies and lady friends to come in and recorded the choir downstairs as a group. The song is about wrestling with everything – faith, life and so on. It’s interesting wrestling with these intense subjects while sitting in a church, and having their support to be honest and transparent was amazing. I think the song is one of the more powerful songs on the album for a myriad of reasons, but sharing a night of beers and stories with a handful of the people you love, unpacking a ton of heady concepts and recording a choir really put an exclamation point on the song for me. It’s dark, beautiful, haunting and heavy all at the same time. That’s what Underoath does best in my opinion.”
Fans were given a sneak peek of the track this past week when the band dropped a new website at voyeurist.io, where fans would give camera access permissions to react to the song’s breakdown alongside other fans and the band members themselves. The website was promptly named after long-awaited new album ‘Voyeurist’, which as a title has been teased going all the way back to the beginning of this year. The album is described by the band as “high-def violence” – technologically advanced, but undeniably visceral. Inspired by the concept of the façade of social media and how that façade masks a lot of what is actually experienced in life, all while creating a cohesive listening experience for all who listen to the album.
For the first time in Underoath’s illustrious career, ‘Voyeurist’ was self-produced by the band, recorded entirely in McTague’s local studio. The decision to self-produce the album was one that sparked many difficult conversations, but also provided the ideal situation for artistic innovation and creativity, leading to the record being the band’s boldest and most collaborative album to date, featuring input from every member of the band and guest spot from recent genre-bending phenomenon Ghostemane in an unexpected move fans never would have seen coming.
McTague added about the album,
“I’ve always wanted to record our own album. I think we just needed to get into a headspace personally that would allow criticism and critique to land in a productive and constructive way. The result is the most collaborative album of Underoath’s career and, anchored in a profound respect for each other, one that left no stone unturned creatively. We grew so much in real time and I think the record speaks to that growth and collaboration. I haven’t ever felt this attached to a project in my life.”
Pre-orders are available now for Underoath’s seventh studio album ‘Voyeurist’, releasing January 14th via Fearless Records. See the official album tracklist and listen to the new single “Hallelujah” below.
‘Voyeurist‘ Track List:
01. Damn Excuses
02. Hallelujah
03. I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out of Luck and Have No Friends
04. Cycle ft. Ghostemane
05. Thorn
06. (No Oasis)
07. Take A Breath
08. We’re All Gonna Die
09. Numb
10. Pneumonia
tags:
aaron gillespie Fearless Records hallelujah New Album Spencer Chamberlain tim mctague underoath voyeurist
