Underøath release Erase Me, their sixth studio album and first since 2010, via Fearless Records on April 6.
The confirmation of what is one of rock music’s most anticipated and speculated about reunions arrives with Underøath’s first new song in nearly a decade, “On My Teeth” (https://youtu.be/WlDVOIO1rIA).
“We’ve had success and we’ve come through a lot of waters,” explains drummer/vocalist Aaron Gillespie. “There’s been 11,000 things we’ve been through so you would think, almost rhetorically, ‘What do you need now?’ All of us are finally in that place in our lives where the only thing we care about is inclusion for everybody—for the world. For me, exclusion is the scariest thing in the world. And I think Underoath coming back now with a new record—which none of us thought was possible—we want people to know that this is your music and you can feel however the fuck you want about it. I just want to prove that we are doing everything in the most honest way we ever have. This is the healthiest we’ve ever been as a group of people, as musicians, and in our worldview.”
Gillespie’s quote touches on the narratives behind the 11-song release: addressing the dire circumstances that led to the demise of the band, the ability to, now, be true to themselves and with their listeners as well as the individual band members disenchantment with religion.
“We took a step away and then we realized that we are a family,” adds singer Spencer Chamberlain. “We do miss it and we miss each other. We made the decision to never play again as Underoath and then we let that sit a couple of years. Band members rebuilt themselves and their friendships–and then we rebuilt the band.”
Erase Me was written and recorded over the summer of 2017 with producer Matt Squire (Panic! At The Disco, 3OH!3) and mixed by Ken Andrews (Failure, Jimmy Eat World).