Led by post-punk and sci-fi alt-rock alchemist Jalal Andre, gloryBots exists at a crossroads of darkened rhythmic impulses – their music surges with a wiry complexity while adorning itself with scarred rock melodies and cosmic riffs. Over the years, the band has shifted their focus, veering between more melodic avenues of expression and moments when an encroaching blackness informed their work to a larger degree. Regardless of its decoration, the music has always been fueled by a restless creativity, a need to push genres past their comfort zones and into wilder landscapes of sonic experimentation.
Following the release of 2018’s Dark Alien Pop and 2020’s Invisible – and with help from quarantine caused by the ongoing COVID pandemic – Andre spent time writing and looking forward to what a new gloryBots album might sound like. And that just happened to be Radiation Skies, the forthcoming record from the band and another descent into the fantastical weirdness and elastic musicality that the band has continued to develop over the years.
Radiation Skies brings a lineup change to the band, as longtime drummer Ben Hilzinger is absent, and Don Gunn, who was originally brought on to mix the album, now sits behind the kit. Another new addition is bassist Ilya Krisa, who worked hard to find unique ways to incorporate different influences into the gloryBots aesthetic. These new songs are a testament to their interactional dynamism, to the kind of personal camaraderie that comes from musicians operating on identical wavelengths.
You can hear this sense of concurrent creativity on their latest single, Come at Me,” an alt-rock anthem driven by the thumping of its post-punk heart. A look at the terrible things that life can throw at you, and the cruel randomness of its intentions, the song doesn’t shy away from addressing the uncertain realities of the world around us.
“‘Come at Me’ is about fate and the role it plays in the complexity of our lives, for better or worse,” Andre explains. The guitar riffs slam into your chest, drums are shaken apart, and the bass slithers along on its way to parts unknown. It’s all gloriously catchy and caustic in in assessment of our ability to force fate back from its intended course.
Listen to the song below.
gloryBots’ new album, Radiation Skies, is being self-released on April 21. Follow the band on Facebook and Instagram.
