Bay Area shoegaze act Whirr have a new full-length, Sway, coming out at the end of the summer on Graveface Records, and this week they released a preview track from it called “Mumble”—it’s today’s 12 O’Clock Track. Whirr have always been masters at creating sweeping, glacial, dream-rock epics, but this new song sees them taking on their signature style with a bit more urgency. The beat pulses and pushes rather than floats, and an overdriven bass line drives the whole song. Perhaps this edgy new approach to the band’s formula is a result of Whirr’s main dude Nick Bassett taking influence from Nothing—a band he joined that creates a slightly more dynamic and aggressive take on modern shoegaze. But the biggest departure from their sound is the absence of lead vocalist Alexandra Morte, whose shimmering, yearning vocals carried the band’s past songs and created their best moments. This slightly new direction for the band isn’t a bad thing at all, though—it’s still heavy, haunting, and beautiful.
Sway comes out on 9/23.