First breaking onto the music scene in 1999, Fairweather starts their next chapter with the announcement of their new EP, Deluge, set for release June 24th on long-time label home Equal Vision Records. Recorded at guitarist Ben Green's Washington D.C. studio, Ivakota, and partially at vocalist Jay Littleton's studio in Houston, Deluge is Fairweather's first new music since their self-titled album in 2014. Rounding out the band’s lineup is guitarist Peter Tsouras, drummer Shane Johnson, and Ben Murphy moves to third guitar as the band welcomes Nick Barkley (Olympia) on bass.
The first taste of Deluge comes with “Untethered”, a six-minute and a half long song boasting a powerful mix of post-rock and alternative, a clear shift from the band’s punk-centered past. Littleton's vocals glitter above the pummeling pace, almost untouched by the tumult below him. The video captures an extraordinary studio-performance from the band that is sure to have fans itching for a live show.
Speaking further on the EP and “Untethered”, guitarist Peter Tsouras commented:
"As a band, we’ve never been constrained by the need to recreate a previous album. Part of our writing process is finding a way to re-envision our parts without worrying about their sum. In contrast with our last record, which was intended as a collection of straightforward declarations of raw energy, the songs for what would become Deluge were more ornate in their form. As the opening track of the record, Untethered is its standard-bearer. There are discrete lines of melody threading through the dirge-like pace of the song, which we really sought to exploit with the latest iteration of the band. With three guitar players, we wanted to play with the front-to-back depth of these songs - the opening chord structure acts as an introduction for each of us in a way, as three distinct themes enter before the vocals. Lyrically, it is a mourning of something lost, a procession into the unknown. The melodies waver between uplifting and threatening, and the themes of tension and release continue though the nearly 7 minute song. This is the heaviest music we’ve ever written, and yet the most beautiful and harmonically dense. The result is something vast, maybe cinematic, but at times feels intimate, and even fragile.”
Fairweather has shared their new single “Control” alongside a lyric video. The track exemplifies the bands ability to create the kind of atmosphere that can fully engage the listener and at the same time slowly build a current of tension just below the surface.
Speaking on the lyrics of “Control”, Littleton stated:
“‘Control’ is about the rules and rituals that we assign ourselves to protect us and the ones we love. When so much of life is uncertain and out of our hands, we take hold of the things we can affect. We do these things to help maintain the illusion of control and to fight the feeling of helplessness.”