Article by: Leanne Ridgeway
Brisbane, Australia‘s acclaimed garage-psych rock merchants SACRED SHRINES share an exclusive advance album stream today. Strap in and get ready to welcome their sophomore full-length ‘Enter The Woods‘, releasing this Friday, on April 23rd.
SACRED SHRINES played their first show in March 2014, launching their debut 7″ single at the same time. The group emerged from the remnants of internationally acclaimed power-pop/psych powerhouse Grand Atlantic after their final shows in 2013. SACRED SHRINES provided songwriter Phil Usher with a new vehicle to showcase his fresh body of work and to start over with a refocused musical direction and a raw canvas to play with.
During their brief tenure, the band has shared stages with The Dandy Warhols, The Upside Down, The Demon Parade, Flyying Colours, Tumbleweed, ORB, Stonefield, and many more. The band released its debut album in July 2016, and before the dust had settled on that debut, SACRED SHRINES released a six-track follow-up EP entitled ‘Trail To Find‘ in 2017.
On the back of constant touring and radio airplay, SACRED SHRINES signed to Californian label Rebel Waves Records, the imprint of Ripple Music label, at the end of 2017. Since then, the band has been working tirelessly on tracks for their sophomore LP ‘Enter The Woods‘. They are no stranger to the sometimes precarious path of the independent artist, with the constant pressures of moving forward as a group resulting in an evolving lineup since the release of the first LP.
Adding in a global pandemic to the mix, the band took longer than anticipated to finish their 2nd album, but this time of reflection, regrouping, and adversity had a significant part in shaping ‘Enter The Woods‘. Frontman Phil Usher comments:
“We’re all really excited to be finally releasing our second album ENTER THE WOODS. It’s an album that we are all very proud of and we feel that it’s a huge step forward from our first record.
It’s an honour to be working with Todd, Corinne and everyone at Rebel Waves Records. They really understand what we’re trying to achieve as a band and have been there for us every step of the way.“
Tracklist:
01. Enter The Woods
02. Trail To Find
03. Front Row Future
04. Keep All The Sunshine
05. Take The Fall
06. Through The Haze
07. Paint The Sky
08. Stranger
09. Never Far From Where We Are
10. Aching Bones
11. Shadow Man
12. The Hunter
13. Pass Like A Parade
If their first self-titled album was a sort of statement of arriving, like an alien spacecraft crash-landing on an undiscovered planet, the new album ‘Enter The Woods‘ is a tale of losing your way and the time spent in the wilderness without a map to guide you.
While the themes cover a gamut of human emotion such as mental illness, loss, betrayal, isolation, failure, and self-belief, it stands as another heady collection of cosmic sounds and diverse songwriting that further propels SACRED SHRINES towards the far-out reaches of their own musical landscape.
Recorded at various studios around Brisbane, it was mixed by a carefully curated list of engineers from across the globe, including Michael Badger (King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard) and Donovan Miller (FOREVR), as well as James Aparicio (Spiritualized, Grinderman) and local talent Dan James and Matt Weatherall.
The new album ‘Enter The Woods‘ will be issued Friday, April 23rd, 2021, on various limited vinyl formats, CD, and digital via Rebel Waves Records. Listen to the album in its entirety below, then order your copy at one of the following locations:
Rebel Waves Bandcamp | Ripple Music Webstore
SACRED SHRINES:
Facebook | Instagram | Website | YouTube | Spotify | Bandcamp
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