Moments of Clarity
Narrow Head
February 10, 2023Texas grunge-gaze rockers Narrow Head have just announced their new album titled "Moments of Clarity" set for release on February 10, 2023 via Run for Cover Records. Along with the album announcement, the band has just released lead single and title track "Moments of Clarity" with an official video that can be streamed below.
About the new LP:
Solitude, melancholy, and revelation bleed into each other throughout Narrow Head’s, Moments of Clarity, transporting the listener through a vast terrain of emotional spaces. Traversing the depths of towering, churning riffs, bouncing, lock-grooved rhythms, and crystalline, gorgeously constructed hooks, the Houston-based outfit puts on a masterclass in the art of writing songs that match the pain, pleasure, and confusion of modern living. Each track is sentimental without being precious, heavy without unnecessary griminess, pop-forward without letting the listener off the hook easy: these songs ask for some form of hurt or desire to be paid back to them in return, some promise that the listener is putting equal skin into the game.
Moments of Clarity’s title track lyrically evokes images of numbed psyches and deep loathing, yet all the while holds out a sense of forgiveness in not knowing how to get better, a sense of forgiveness in the fact that, “it’s ok to say you want more.” “Moments of Clarity” tunnels through a thick morass of sticky rhythms, eventually exposing a melody so triumphant and stadium-sized in its confidence that it almost seems to channel the ghosts of Oasis’s Knebworth 1996.
With Moments of Clarity, the band’s third full-length, Narrow Head dashes away any shadow of romantic nostalgia or indulgent self-deprecation. Channeling equal parts pop-star conceit and weathered sobriety, the band has, in the truest and most basic sense, arrived at a record that only they could have written. Moments of Clarity does not speak to or build upon the past. Rather, it cuts straight to the heart of the matter, taking the struggle, brilliance, and mystery of contemporary life as its direct subject.
RIYL: Nothing, Teenage Wrist, Soul Blind, Quicksand, Hum, Smashing Pumpkins
Reviews of Moments of Clarity on Release Wave
Narrow Head return with crushing new single from forthcoming LP...
Texas post-grunge / nu-gaze band Narrow Head have just dropped the first single from their forthcoming LP and it absolutely rips. Once again, Narrow Head continues to level up their sound with their love of 90s grunge/shoegaze/post-hardcore and guitar driven 90s alt rock, combining swirling guitars, plenty of reverb and distortion, and huge melodic sensibility and groove, sure to get you moving and singing along. It’s no secret that there’s been a major revival of grunge and shoegaze influenced alternative rock over recent years, a sound that hearkens back to the hazy and heavy melancholy sounds of some of my favorite bands from the 90s. Narrow Head capture this sound extremely well, with an updated take on what bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Hum, Nirvana, Swervedriver, Deftones and Quicksand were doing in their prime. While their previous LP 12th House Rock was an outstanding take on this sound, the new single demonstrates even more confidence and progress, sounding even bigger and better than before. With their forthcoming LP, Narrow Head are definitely leading the pact, and even with many amazing bands like Nothing, Teenage Wrist, Soul Blind, Milly and several others pulling from this era of music, these guys are definitely at the top of the conversation. Definitely one of my most anticipated albums of 2023 and look forward to sharing more thoughts on it as we get closer to the release in February. Be on the lookout and do yourself a favor by pre-ordering the album immediately!
Narrow Head drop heavy new single from upcoming LP and it rocks!
About the single:
On Narrow Head’s latest single “Gearhead”, the band approaches new depths of heaviness. Fueled by a massive riff that nods towards the pure evil, “everything is bigger in Texas” attitude, the band unravels syncopated bursts of pummeling kinetic energy, weaving between subtly gripping melodies and utterly bleak breakdowns in unison. Frontman Jacob Duarte (also of Skourge, Sexpill) tells, “This is the type of song I’ve always wanted to write. A hardcore song with a catchy hook. If you ever wanted to describe our sound to someone; start with this song.” Stream the official video for "Gearhead" below.