Some bands in math rock need little to no introduction – And So I Watch You From Afar find themselves damn near the top of these decidedly household names, and it’s no surprise. Every album sounds like it was written by ASIWYFA, but as if reporting from a different spiritual plane or musical planet.
Their debut, and to large extent the followup Gangs, crushed the earth beneath them with progressive, towering walls of sound. All Hail Bright Futures saw the band reincarnated with the same energy but childlike wonder all its own, which grew up and warped wildly on Heirs. After merging all of these phases on the magnificent The Endless Shimmering, they even transcended secular songwriting in general with a multimedia science fiction sequence known as Jettison.
Honestly, we’ve had no idea where they would be going after that, only that we’d be down to follow them because they’ve yet to let us down. Seeing a band staying so inspired after all this time is… well, inspiring. And now, our faith is rewarded as ASIWYFA tests the waters with new single “Do Mór.”
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The title of the new record is Megafauna, and it’s set for an August release. As far as we know, this is the first song we’ve heard with the new bass player (guitarist Rory Friers’ brother Ewen), as well as their first on Pelagic Records after almost an entire career on Sargent House. That’s a lot of change, but from the sound of it, we’re still in more than capable hands.
Check out the background they gave on the band camp pre-order, which you can see more of here:
“… the intent behind Megafauna is clear from the outset. Two guitars, bass and drums all recorded in a week erupt into effervescent life in an endorphin rush of collaboration and togetherness after the physical and psychological wilderness of isolation. Lead single “Do Mór” is a preposterously playful collision of light-hearted guitar hooks, effortless jazz syncopation and the triumphant return of ASIWYFA’s inimitable wall-of-sound distortion, whilst opening track “North Coast Megafauna” serves as an anthem for the whole album and perhaps for a band reinvigorated too; proudly wearing the joyously jarring confrontation of their sound on their sleeves. Elsewhere on Megafauna introspection and sombre sentimentality take centre stage with the downtempo “Years Ago” providing remarkable dynamic depth that speaks to a band approaching two decades together whilst the moments of calm on “Button Days” are interspersed with cacophonous blasts reminiscent of the unbridled energy on ASIWYFA’s earliest material…”
“…Megafauna is the band’s first new music since 2022’s critically-acclaimed Jettison, an ambitious multi-media ensemble piece packed full of experimentation and collaboration. Jokingly referring to the album as the band’s “mature record”, guitarist Niall Kennedy frames the writing of Megafauna around the band’s long-running mantra of ‘DO THE SCARY THING’ which sees them constantly hurtling towards newness, towards progress, evolution and the unknown. Whilst the new record is ASIWYFA taking on a more familiar, traditional form; in this post-Jettison, post-pandemic world, Megafauna is a deafening and defiant statement of intent from the band’s propulsive core – a clarion call for the communities that shape them, a resplendent celebration of togetherness over separation.”