Initiate

With Love // With Rage is Initiate's first release since their 2023 album Cerebral Circus, and the Southern California band frame it exactly as the title suggests — five tracks split between two opposing feelings. "When I looked back at the lyrics, everything read as a letter, either to another person in my life, my friends, or myself," vocalist Crystal Pak explains. "A letter to a friend would be signed off 'With Love,' not 'With Rage.' I intentionally wrote these songs so they spoke to these two opposing feelings. You can tell which tracks spill to which side."

Lead single "Numb the Pain" sets the tone: acoustic strums under the verses, a breakdown that resolves into something gentler than it sets up. "We all wondered, 'What would it sound like if Clairo wrote a Quicksand record?'" Pak says, noting it opens with a callback to previous single "Alone At the Bottom." The EP runs "Burn After Reading," "Delusions," "Shadowboxing," "Numb the Pain," and "Future Saving Grace."

With Love // With Rage arrives August 7, 2026 on Blue Grape Music, with a Devil Dog Distro exclusive 12" pressing in the UK. Pre-order it here.