Tears Run Rings: Everything In The End  CD / LP   (Shelflife Records)

Release date: September 6, 2024

Tears Run Rings - Everything In The End CD/LP (Shelflife Records)

Bio: Tears Run Rings is comprised of Matthew Bice (vocals, guitar), Laura Watling (vocals, bass), Ed Mazzucco (guitar), and Dwayne Palasek (drums). Over the past 15 years, the band has released three albums. Now they are back with album 4, "Everything In The End."

In 2018, after their first live show in 10 years, the band was renewed with musical inspiration and ready for a new chapter. "Everything in the End" was written over the course of the next several years. While TRR did get together on several occasions for in-person songwriting sessions, the album was largely a long-distance effort, recorded in both Portland and San Francisco home studios. The idea of having a double LP drove the concept of four sides to the album, each with a distinct tone and feel.

Matthew and Laura sometimes swap, sometimes share, lead vocal responsibilities and both contributed lyrically to the album. When writing "Everything in the End," the band asked the question, "What if this is the end? What if this is the last music we ever record together?" The lyrics and the music reflect a push and pull of loss and hope, sadness and joy. The presence of such melancholic imagery is not coincidental. From the very first notes of the single “Lost Touch,” Tears Run Rings tread upon hallowed ground. Matthew approaches the vocal melodies with a reverence, allowing them to transform into a musical instrument. “How Will We Know?" captures the human condition of waiting and hoping for something undefined, with the fading light symbolizing the passage of time. “Since You’ve Gone," laments for a lost presence and the emptiness that follows. "Nothing More,” expresses a realization that sometimes, love is the only thing one desires in a vast and empty world.

Musically, the new album does not stray far from TRR's shoegaze roots. However, there is a subtlety and restraint to this record, with the soft moments shining as bright as the noisy ones. This album showcases TRR's most intricate tapestry of sound to date, with soaring harmonies, Ed's swirling guitars, and Dwayne's drumming as the ever-strong backbone. All the while, the band conducts an introspective examination of a fractured heart - showcasing that Tears Run Rings have always embodied dream pop, both in spirit and in sound.

Some Random Things You Don't Care About TRR:

• While making the new album, Matthew was the dreamer, Laura was the task master, Ed was the engineer, and Dwayne was the architect.
• Dwayne is the most knowledgeable shoegazer in the band
• Ed collects Pokemon more than guitar pedals these days
• Laura loves gardening on sunny days
• Matthew enjoys fancy cocktails