For Fans of Deftones: Hear Darling Fire's Churning New Song "Clean Hands"

Featuring members of Shai Hulud, Further Seems Forever and more, the Darling Fire are a Florida-based band who combine aching shoegaze prettiness and ethereal textures with stomping alt-metal guitars that have the thrust of bands like Deftones and Hum. They released their debut in 2019, but later this fall they'll return with a darker, heavier follow-up called Distortions, and today we're stoked to be premiering its latest single, "Clean Hands."

The stormy song features numerous gigantic swells that build to epic showings of metallic might and melodic rock efficiency, fusing together the urgency of post-hardcore with the grandiosity of more patient, brooding and all-around bigger-sounding genres. Take a listen below via Bandcamp. 

"We pushed the envelope a little further with each song written for Distortions," says singer Jolie Lindholm. "The last thing any artist wants to do is lock themselves into a box. We wanted to see how far we could go with the sound we were developing while maintaining a melodic balance and accessibility. Producer Jay Maas (Defeater, Bane) was critical in helping us achieve this sound.

"Born from that experiment, 'Clean Hands' is heavier than our starting point, with an edge you can cut yourself on. There's a clear tension there, winding up, with a dreamlike exhale in the center. We wanted to create movement with sonic energy. This song became a metaphor for those who feel trapped — cogs, strangled by the machine — lashing out and making the choice to pursue what they really love, so they can finally breathe."

Distortions is out September 16th via Iodine Recordings and is available for pre-order here.