new interview with Revolver reveals more information on James leaving the band: https://www.revolvermag.com/feature...-album-marks-a-whole-new-chapter-of-the-band/
Great read, thanks for posting. Lots of new details behind lyrics and some clarity on James being asked to leave.
Was looking forward to it after their manager said on their subreddit the topic would be brought up in an upcoming interview. I remember him adding that we'd probably be disappointed due to it being much less dramatic than expected.
Chris casually dropping on reddit they once asked Kurt Ballou to produce DTGL... that would've been something!
Wow I’m surprised they addressed it. I’m wondering though if James has a different take. I remember his wife throwing shade at them
i remember him saying it came as a surprise to him and that his wife said he was ready to go three days before tour when he got word to sit off the tour (getting officially kicked out 3 weeks later). there's some sort of disconnect with them saying he wasn't showing up for rehearsals a week before tour and his wife saying he was ready to leave for a month.
Yea even with a relatively simple explanation, it sounds like there’s more animosity than you’d expect for a band that has already supposedly broken up once due to the stress of travel/being away from family. Weird way for things to shake out.
Forgot to post this interview with Chris Dudley which I came across a few weeks ago. Might not interest everyone as it's on a Christian website. However, I found bits insightful, particularly with him retaining his Christian beliefs and us often hearing from the Spencer/Aaron perspective both lyrically and in interviews. Uncensored Honestly: Chris Dudley on His Faith Inside Underoath Always love this kind of disclaimer on a Christian website: You have been warned!
Very interesting read. As someone who has recently left ministry and the church, and is actively deconstructing, this was a very insightful interview. Thanks for sharing!
Spencer’s album came out yesterday. Felt like a long time ago that he had released a single. Named slo/tide
the record was completed in 2021 or sometime around then (with its first single dropping near the end of the year). Spencer has seemed to indicate that the record was released piecemeal because the label he signed with wanted one of the songs to have a viral moment. only then could he release the full album (which is a shitty way to release an album, and probably doesn't feel good on top of all the stuff happening leading up to TPATO's release). don't know if that ever came to fruition, since 9 of its 11 tracks were released as singles over the past 3+ years. i need to give the songs a listen again, but my personal opinion is that the record sounds fairly dated and not as engaging as i would've hoped, which sucks because i was really looking forward to hearing him work outside the bounds of heavier projects like Underoath or even Sleepwave.
I didn’t know all the stuff in the first paragraph, but I agree it sounds dated and I found it pretty forgettable after a couple listens save for a couple songs. Unfortunately, I think Spencer’s voice just doesn’t work in this kind of music at all so I wasn’t too optimistic. That said, I’m really happy for him as I’m sure he’s stoked as can be about it and he’s been touring on it so that’s probably a really rewarding experience. Hope the crowds have been into it and there still are some pretty fun sounds. I’m sure I’d like it more in a live setting.
Gave it a listen and it's run of the mill indie pop, reminds me of a lot of stuff in that vein that was popular in the early to mid 10s. Pleasant but nothing stood out, sadly. Good for him for having another music outlet and for finally releasing the album. His label remains dumb for sitting on it for that long. I'm sure there were myriads of other strategies more suited to an album campaign for what, in the eye of most of the listeners, is a side-project from a 40+ metalcore frontman. The expectations put on him were so unrealistic and mismatched I can't wrap my head around all this, but I can't say I'm surprised by yet another label fuckery either.
yeah my first thought when i heard it was "this probably would've done surprisingly well on SiriusXM AltNation in 2015". in 2025, it sounds like it's been done before.
If it all would have dropped like a traditional album I think I would have been all “eh this is kind of cool” but the slow drip of a pretty uninspired album lost me. I liked the first foster the people esque song, but stopped bothering after the first 2-3 singles. Also I haven’t revisited the new UO album almost at all since it dropped. Big bummer. Lost and disambiguation were monumental albums to me. I can’t get past the lyrics. They’ve been less resonant for a minute and don’t speak to me like the story and emotive imagery from past records.
Gave this one more listen this weekend. Not for me. Will always listen to whatever they do but just feel no connection to this. Somehow even less than erase me which is shocking after voyeurist/digital ghost.
Most of this album is in pretty regular rotation on my playlist with Devil, And Then There Was Nothing, and Cannibal being the most frequent ones. But I barely ever go back to Generation No Surrender or Shame