Just going to leave this Gentle Heat Music Video right here.
TOUR DATES
May 19th - Chicago, IL @ The Hideout w/ Discus & Smut
May 20th - St. Louis, MO @ The Platypus w/ Home Office & Choir Vandals
May 21st - Atlanta, GA @ Eyedrum w/ Truth Club
May 22nd - Asheville, NC @ Static Age w/ Gummy & Truth Club
May 23rd - Triangle, NC w/ Truth Club
May 25th - Baltimore, MD @ Joe Squared w/ Got Close
May 27th - Philadelphia, PA @ Khyber Pass w/ Pet Fox & Bleary Eyed
May 28th - New York, NY w/ Pet Fox & Ben Special
May 29th - Portland, ME @ Sun Tiki Studios w/ Rick Rude & Pet Fox
May 30th - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair w/ Pile & Bathouse
May 31st - Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s
June 2nd - Toronto, ON @ Orwell w/ Chris & Motorists
June 3rd - Port Huron, MI @ The Schwonk
Chicago’s Gentle Heat have shared the final preview off their forthcoming sophomore album, the blisteringly catchy “WDYG”. The Chicago quintet are stepping out on their first record for Flesh & Bone Records, the 9-track Sheer, out this Friday. Led by David Algrim, the group make compelling, noisey pop that pulls from shoegaze, post-punk and dream pop, sitting somewhere between contemporaries like Ovlov, and touchstones like Swirlies and Sonic Youth.
“WDYG” follows singles “Total Orbit” & “Closer II”, all three tracks showcasing the bands penchant for economic, harmony laden songs drenched in feedback and pop smarts. On the new single, Algrim explains, “WDYG is a song about daydreaming and drifting off for better or worse. I have a tendency when I’m over-caffeinated or in a bleak mood, to drift into worst case scenarios or any other hypothetical situation. It’s less about specifically dark or dreary thoughts and more so about where I tend to go when my mind wanders.”
In an era of music during which the urge to define and dissect new genres competes only with the desire to ruthlessly consolidate old ones, Gentle Heat is refreshing in their purpose and consistency. Too lush to be relegated to post-punk or indie rock, and more sonically visceral than contemporary shoegaze, the Chicago quintet defies easy categorization in a way that makes their evolution as exciting to watch as it is to hear. By pure force of volume, Gentle Heat creates a sound all their own driven by propulsive rhythms and dissonant melodies.
With their newest release Sheer, Gentle Heat reaffirms this commitment with surgical efficiency. Even the most formless sounds have purpose; ethereal soundscapes give way to humming, knotted feedback. The addition of vocalist/ keyboardist Sarah Clausen has enabled the project to dive deeper into the ambient aspects of their sound, blending the record into a knotted cohesive piece.
On Sheer, Gentle Heat pares down their formula to the point that every piece becomes essential and immediate even as they are weaving together layers of sound. According to guitarist/ vocalist David Algrim, “The idea for this project has always been to create sonically dense music viewed through the lens of pop structure. With Sheer, the goal was to refine that concept to its most concise form.” The result is a dynamic sound as likely to excite seasoned shoegaze listeners as it is to turn new heads in the back of the venue bar.
While the lineup has changed since the band’s inception, Gentle Heat has maintained a musical coherence through their four releases that affords the germination of new ideas and fresh sounds while remaining reverent to their past. The synthesis of experience and influences offered up on Sheer marks a big step forward for the group, and with it, a momentum that is proportional to the energy of their sound.