It’s getting chilly over here and so my heart naturally craves more moody and atmospheric music. But winter also gets me really excited, filling me with a feeling of freedom that the oppressive nature of summer leaves me longing for. That means that I also want emotional and expressive music, not necessarily just contemplation and ambience. Luckily, Winter Dust have both of those vibes for me. They make the kind of alternative post-rock tinged with emo and hardcore influences that Holy Fawn deal in but heavier on the classic post-rock influences. Their new single (and video), “All My Friends Are Leaving Town”, is like Mono but with a lens of aggression on the vocals that adds lots of power and impact. Head on down below to check it out!
The calm and ambient intro is a staple of this genre mix at this point and Winter Dust pull it off very well. You can feel the contained energy of the track flexing and gathering its energies on the moody opening parts of the track, all delay touches and barely heard mutterings channeling a building discontent. When the harsher vocals arrive, they’re accompanied by even more delay-heavy guitars, picking those tremolo like leads that draw the Mono comparison. These work with the vocals to convey that kind of “emotional chill” that I alluded to above, contemplative yet filled with thrust and energy.
The cool thing about this track is that it doesn’t just pull off the crescendo and then fades away; there’s a neat little build up near the end of it which showcases the drums, as they weave in and out of a second wind that makes the track more complicated than it otherwise would be. This also works well with the video, as the visual elements keep articulating themselves into new forms right until closing time. If this track is anything to go by, the album, titled Sense By Erosion and dropping on November 9th, will be a complex and evocative journey. Make sure you head over to the band’s Bandcamp to grab it; winter draws near and this album is sure to channel many a nervous tension.