← more from
Wax Nine Records

PITH

by Melkbelly

supported by
Brandon Perras-Sanchez
Brandon Perras-Sanchez thumbnail
otisasaghost
otisasaghost thumbnail
Ryan Doremus
Ryan Doremus thumbnail
Ben Grigg
Ben Grigg thumbnail
Nathan
Nathan thumbnail
Steve Shonder
Steve Shonder thumbnail
jfwilliamson
jfwilliamson thumbnail
speedy ortiz
speedy ortiz thumbnail
Jason Bourgeois
Jason Bourgeois thumbnail
J Roach
J Roach thumbnail
Andrew Schneider
Andrew Schneider thumbnail
DMH
DMH thumbnail
Edwina Hay
Edwina Hay thumbnail
DEVIN HURD
DEVIN HURD thumbnail
Neil Robert Leonard
Neil Robert Leonard thumbnail
fables in death
fables in death thumbnail
giraffe
giraffe thumbnail
Grungey Alt-Rock
Grungey Alt-Rock thumbnail
Jeremy D. Larson
Jeremy D. Larson thumbnail
Shawn Glowzynski
Shawn Glowzynski thumbnail
Ransom Brasher
Ransom Brasher thumbnail
Brendan Hannigan
Brendan Hannigan thumbnail
wooten.rob
wooten.rob thumbnail
Dan Goldin
Dan Goldin thumbnail
Jason Squiers
Jason Squiers thumbnail
Super Super Sounds
Super Super Sounds thumbnail
June
June thumbnail
NekroMarshall
NekroMarshall thumbnail
Rion Nunez
Rion Nunez thumbnail
Art Fin
Art Fin thumbnail
Siccup
Siccup thumbnail
Sarah W
Sarah W thumbnail
Kyle Sparks
Kyle Sparks thumbnail
Sam Pfaff
Sam Pfaff thumbnail
Garrett Malcolm
Garrett Malcolm thumbnail
Otto Katz
Otto Katz thumbnail
avenell
avenell thumbnail
brendankuntz
brendankuntz thumbnail
royalidiot
royalidiot thumbnail
rambo_lips
rambo_lips thumbnail
offpeat
offpeat thumbnail
maikorules
maikorules thumbnail
Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot thumbnail
Nick Suttner
Nick Suttner thumbnail
Daniel Rathbun
Daniel Rathbun thumbnail
eb111
eb111 thumbnail
DoubleB
DoubleB thumbnail
Derek Schwartz
Derek Schwartz thumbnail
ericfate
ericfate thumbnail
Joseph Murphy
Joseph Murphy thumbnail
/

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Gatefold Jacket
    Limited Edition Black & Purple Vinyl
    Digital Download Included

    Includes digital pre-order of PITH. You get 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    digital album releases April 3, 2020
    item ships out on or around April 2, 2020

      $15.98 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Digipak

    Includes digital pre-order of PITH. You get 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    digital album releases April 3, 2020
    item ships out on or around April 2, 2020

      $13.98 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Pre-order of PITH. You get 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    Purchasable with gift card
    releases April 3, 2020

      $9.99 USD  or more

     

1.
THC
2.
Sickeningly Teeth
3.
02:45
buy track
4.
Little Bug
5.
04:07
buy track
6.
Kissing Under Some Bats
7.
Season of the Goose
8.
Mr Coda
9.
Stone Your Friends
10.
Take H20
11.
Flatness

about

Melkbelly sculpts their signature balance between subtle melody and frantic noise on new album PITH, their second for Carpark Records/Wax Nine. The Chicago-based foursome has made spatial dynamics central to its arrangements, reaching for weirder highs and more startling atmospherics, negative space giving way to enveloping walls of chaos. This sense of form is reflected not only in the purposeful production, but in the ceramic cover art created by Chicago artist Deborah Handler.

Recording in two short sessions six months apart, the band worked with longtime collaborator Dave Vettraino, this time at Bloomington, Indiana’s Russian Recording. Alongside an arsenal of rock gear and airy synth layers coaxed from a Moog Prodigy, PITH’s multidimensionality was refined by the studio’s collection of rare Russian tube mics, which were placed in every corner to capture Melkbelly’s unabashed loudness. Frontperson Miranda Winters’ charmingly bright vocals are newly effected, delayed to a menacing, mysterious thickness. Guitars, handled by Miranda and Bart Winters, interlock and separate with dizzying ease, riffs dissolving into floating trails and reappearing with metallic edges. Bassist Liam Winters’ low grooves bounce and kick along with drummer James Wetzel’s rhythmically unsettling performance, which stretches time yet never falters.

After two years touring internationally, the band felt comfortable enough to rearrange songs they knew well, their renewed closeness guiding them. Their literally familial relationship was crucial for support, as PITH was summoned from a place of mourning. “We lost an incredible friend suddenly and nostalgia always acts as a helpful tool for me in navigating difficult times,” Miranda says. “Revisiting emotionally challenging moments or significant social interactions helps shed light on confusing feelings for me. Lyrically, grief gave way to considering life.” She drew from diverse scenes—Grimm-like children’s stories too dark for kids; thorny, mossy forests—to create stories that feel distinctly Melkbellian: philosophically strange, strikingly textural, funny and sad and open-hearted.

Maturation, as well as their DIY reverence, can be heard on the tempo-shifting “Sickeningly Teeth.” It’s an homage to “feel[ing] like shit really loudly or obnoxiously. You know, in an unapologetic youthful way,” deadpans Miranda. James describes it as a “rhythmic exploration to make the song feel like it's pulling itself apart.” Follow-up single “LCR” similarly shapes PITH’s dynamics and mood. Its shifting signatures held steady by James’ frantic beat, the track is a purgatorial homage to motion, ultimately propelled by its tangled guitars and layered vocal harmonies. “It’s about how having conversations with the dead can scoot you along in life, even when you're really only hearing one side of the conversation or making up the other half,” says Miranda.

Since their 2017 debut Nothing Valley, the members of Melkbelly have an even better understanding of their sonic motivations. “We’re always going to sort through the past to make better sense of the present,” Miranda says, and in doing so Melkbelly continually finds ways to mutate its sound. On PITH, Melkbelly sought space, and succeeded in crafting it. What a pleasure to be let in.

credits

releases April 3, 2020

Miranda Winters - Guitar, Vocals
James Wetzel - Drums, Moog, STS
Bart Winters - Guitar
Liam Winters - Bass Guitar
All songs written by Melkbelly
Lyrics by Miranda Winters

Recorded at Russian Recording in Bloomington, Indiana

Mixed at Public House Sound and Decade Studios in Chicago, Illinois

Recorded, Mixed & Produced by Dave Vettraino

Mastered by Heba Kadry

Ceramic & Gouache by Deb Handler

Design/Layout by Alexa Viscius & James Wetzel

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Melkbelly image

Melkbelly Chicago, Illinois

/////////////

shows

contact / help

Contact Melkbelly

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Melkbelly, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Emma-Jean Thackray drops by with new tunes and a new label.

 listen now