Assertion announce resilient sophomore album, Basking In The Gaslight
Assertion announce resilient sophomore album, Basking In The Gaslight, out July 25th through Spartan Records Release dynamic new single “Lock and Load”
Assertion is drummer William Goldsmith (Sunny Day Real Estate, Foo Fighters) and vocalist/guitarist Justin Tamminga
PREORDER: Basking In The Gaslight
Assertion is a band forged in resilience, built on chemistry, and sustained by the will to keep moving forward, even when everything seems to fall apart. Formed in the Pacific Northwest by drummer William Goldsmith (Sunny Day Real Estate, Foo Fighters) and vocalist/guitarist Justin Tamminga, the band introduced themselves with Intermission in 2021, a record marked by raw immediacy and the renewed sense of purpose that came from returning to music not out of obligation, but out of necessity.
Today, Assertion announce their awaited follow-up to Intermission with Basking In The Gaslight set for release July 25th through Spartan Records. Produced, mixed and mastered by Justin Tamminga in both his and Goldsmith’s home studios from 2020 to 2025, the nine songs on the album build on the dynamics of the band’s alternative meets post-rock sound. Lead single and album opener “Lock and Load,” out now, is an infectious track built on unique percussion and sprite, repetitive guitar riffs. Soaring vocals deliver powerful choruses, centered on lyrics of holding onto life. You can stream the track HERE and check out a visualizer HERE.
Basking in the Gaslight is a raw and deeply personal document of survival, resilience, and emotional reckoning. Assertion wrote and recorded the album through years of upheaval, including a traumatic brain injury, personal trauma, and the isolating weight of lockdown. The result channels pain into catharsis without ever feeling defeated. It’s heavy in both sound and subject matter, driven by unfiltered expression rather than concept, and shaped by a restless desire to heal, reconnect, and grow.
“The title is sarcasm first,” says Tamminga, but it runs deeper — into the experience of being gaslit and reshaped by narcissistic control, of trying to claw back your own reality. “Quite a few of the songs are lyrical depictions of having flashbacks and dealing with traumatic events.” Still, Basking isn’t conceptual. “We don’t go into it with an idea or a theme,” Goldsmith adds. “We just start playing and write music based on feeling and unbridled human expression.”
The music itself balances loud and melodic, sometimes chaotic, always full. The lyrics and artwork carry a heavy weight, but pockets of joy emerged throughout the recording process. Both Tamminga and Goldsmith’s children contributed to the record, adding percussion, strings, and vocals.
With Basking in the Gaslight, Assertion hasn’t just made a powerful record, they’ve made something that bears witness to endurance - truth, scars and all.
Basking in the Gaslight is available for preorder now through Spartan Records.
Basking In The Gaslight Tracklist:
1. Lock and Load
2. Please Wake Up
3. Amygdala Hijacking
4. Almost Over
5. Time Won’t Keep This
6. Wounded
7. Don’t Be Such A Stranger
8. Rise
9. Only Forever
Photo Credit: Keith Stein
