SWISS POST-ROCK BAND hubris. ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM ‘WHITE SHORES’
RELEASED 10TH SEPTEMBER / LISTEN TO FIRST SINGLE “IS”
“White Shores” is the fifth studio album by Swiss post-rock band hubris. set for release on September 10th, 2026.
Following four albums rooted in Greek mythology, composer and founder Jonathan Hohl turns to his other favourite source of inspiration: The Lord of the Rings, but more specifically J.R.R. Tolkien’s exploration of mortality and immortality.
“The Hobbit was my very first exposure to literature as a child, and after Peter Jackson’s original film trilogy, I became completely obsessed with Middle-Earth,” Jonathan recalls.
In Tolkien’s legendarium, elves in spite of their immortality (a trait often coveted by humans) refer to death as the “Gift of Men.” This paradox offers a striking alternative to the Western perception of death as purely tragic. A “gift” implies something desirable, even fortunate. While Tolkien presents multiple perspectives on death throughout his works, the one that resonated most deeply with Jonathan comes from the main protagonist Frodo’s departure at the end of The Lord of the Rings: “the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.”
In the wake of his grandfather’s passing, this perspective became Jonathan’s emotional and conceptual foundation of White Shores. The album unfolds across five movements, each representing a word in a single sentence: Death. Is. Just. Another. Path.
The sentence is drawn from Gandalf’s words to Pippin in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation. It was spoken in the face of what appears to be their last moments. This phrase serves as both a moment of respite and a thematic conception.
With its 5 separate movements, the album also offers a reflection to Dr. Kübler-Ross’s theory on the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.
“Originally, I thought naming a track Death might feel too grim,” Jonathan says, “but that is precisely what this album is about: offering a different perspective.”
First single ‘Is’ is out now with Jonathan adding,
“The idea for the song started while I (Jonathan – guitar, composer) was messing around with a reverse delay pedal. I thought the pad-like sound I was getting was extremely soothing and I hadn’t heard it used as the main focal point of a song before. Although at first I wanted to keep it as some sort of interlude rather than a full song, we quickly managed to build around the original idea and ended up taking it to where it is now. A long, ambient and soothing intro with a heavy climax towards the end. Everything that we love in a post-rock song.
The really challenging part of the process was to learn how to play around a reverse delay while sticking to a tempo for the recording. You have to anticipate every note you’re playing and manage to keep your concentration throughout. Extremely jarring, 0/10 would not recommend.”
Listen to the single now – https://www.submithub.com/link/hubris-is
Watch the video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfntIDJcv-s&feature=youtu.be
White Shores was first composed by Jonathan in his home studio before being arranged collaboratively with the creative minds of the remaining three members: Léo Juston, Lucien Leclerc and Matthieu Grillet. After an extensive demo process, hubris. returned to La Fonderie Studio in Fribourg, Switzerland, where they had previously recorded three of their five albums, to track the record over the course of a week. The album was then mixed by Peter Miles at Middle Farm Studios and mastered by former hubris. drummer Nathan Gros.
The album will be available to pre-order soon.
Follow online – http://hubrisband.com/
