Today we feel proud of premiering the visualizer by Austin quintet Black Books; ‘In The In‘ is one of the most emotional, anthemic gems we have listened in the past few months. A slow-burner, “cosmic cowboy shogaze” (this is how the band describes their sound!), a pure tornado of emotion, which is almost impossible to resist. And it just builds up and up, to reach that rare perfection peak, that in a few years time, while running into the song, we will be wandering what this is, to finally come out with: “Oh yes, I can defo recall this opus. It is Black Books!“.
But back to present, press the play below and get lost in Black Books’ unique, rare treat….
Press Notes:
Black Books began out of a casual meet-up amongst friends in an Austin garage one weekday in 2010. The goal, they’ll tell you, was just to play some music and drink a few beers. Singer Ross Gilfillan originally started on drums, eventually grabbing the mic to also sing vocals, but the soon-to-be band had their first song “White Noise” written by day’s end.
The casual productivity didn’t let up over the next decade, steamrolling into two full lengths, several EPs, millions of streams across digital platforms, and shows as far-reaching as The Roundhouse in London and unusual as a set at Counting Crows vocalist Adam Duritz’s New York high-rise (although they may have not been formally invited… it’s kind of a long story.)
On their upcoming Cheer Up EP, Black Books’ lightheartedly described “cosmic cowboy shoegaze” has never felt more legitimate with four songs of emotional, distortion-heavy slow burners leading to some of the band’s heaviest moments of catharsis. After personal issues hung over the recording of 2017’s Can’t Even for Gilfillan, he attests any audible relief came about subconsciously.
“There was no prior thought to what the songs were going to be about, but they all fit together in content,” Gilfillan adds. “[Songwriting] can be a really vulnerable process, but with this batch of songs, I feel good with where my thoughts are. This EP is me in a much better place and trying to get used to it. That’s why I liked the title Cheer Up.”