THOU SHARE “UNBIDDEN GUEST”
NEW ALBUM UMBILICAL COMING MAY 31ST VIA SACRED BONES
Thou has always been a force of raw energy and unapologetic dissent, defying easy categorisation and challenging listeners to confront the complexities of existence. Their forthcoming album, Umbilical, is their firmest nod to the raw intensity of obscure ’90s DIY hardcore punk. It’s a record filled with mosh-ready riffs, heavy breakdowns and scathing vocals. The band’s aesthetic and political impulses have always been punk and like anyone embroiled in the subculture Thou have been exploring what it means to exist within and without a rigid morality. That exploration takes thematic centre on Umbilical and their self-assessment is as harsh as that of the world around them.
“They’ve called us anarchists, criminals, foreign meddlers, lunatics, dispossessed, relativists, utilitarians, egoists, passion maximizers, ascetics, negators of everything. Clearly, the “Thou” experiment is never going to appeal to audiences who demand that art rigorously enforce a coherent and righteous worldview.
And yet, are we not ourselves constrained by our own rigid morality? In those quiet moments of deep contemplation, when the bargains and concessions are thoroughly examined, when we yield before the Judging Eye–what is the summation of our choices? If the unspoiled self beyond the immensity of time were given voice, what pronouncements would be made? What would such an internal audit yield? What undeniable character would be revealed?
This record is for the radicals, the crackpots, the exiles who have escaped the wasteland of capitulation. This record is for the militants and zealots refusing to surrender to comforts, to practicalities, to thirty pieces of silver. And this record is most especially for the weaklings and malingerers, burdened by capricious indulgence, hunched by the deep wounds of compromise, shuffling in limp approximation, desperately reaching back towards integrity and conviction.” – Thou
Umbilical album cover
Umbilical Digital & CD Track Listing:
1 – Narcissist’s Prayer
2 – Emotional Terrorist
3 – Lonely Vigil
4 – House of Ideas
5 – I Feel Nothing When You Cry
6 – Unbidden Guest
7 – I Return as Chained and Bound to You
8 – The Promise
9 – Panic Stricken, I Flee
10 – Siege Perilous
Umbilical Physical Track List:
LP Side A
1 – Narcissist’s Prayer
2 – Emotional Terrorist
3 – Lonely Vigil
4 – House of Ideas
LP Side B
5 – I Return as Chained and Bound to You
6 – The Promise
7 – Panic Stricken, I Flee
8 – Siege Perilous
7″ Tracks
1 – I Feel Nothing When You Cry
2 – Unbidden Guest
Umbilical is Thou’s first full-length release of original music on Sacred Bones since their 2018 label debut Magus, and 2020 collaborative split with Emma Ruth Rundle, May Our Chambers By Full.
Umbilical will be released across all digital platforms and available in stores May 31st via Sacred Bones.
All vinyl editions come with a black 7” featuring the tracks “I Feel Nothing When You Cry” and “Unbidden Guest”, which are also available on CD and digital products.
Thou Live Dates:
Jun 1: New Orleans, LA – Zeitgeist (w/ SLOWHOLE – all ages show)
Jul 28: New Orleans, LA – The Broadside (w/ The Body + Dis Fig and Nail Club)
Sep 13-15: Richmond, VA – Persistent Vision Fest
Aug 14: The Zoo – Brisbane, AU *
Aug 15: Mary’s Underground – Sydney, AU *
Aug 16: The Baso – Canberra, AU *
Aug 17: Stay Gold – Melbourne, AU *
Aug 18: Crown & Anchor – Adelaide, AU *
Aug 23: Rolling Stone – Christchurch, NZ *
Aug 24: Meow – Wellington, NZ *
Aug 25: Galatos – Auckland, NZ *
* w/ Full of Hell