Clay Rendering will release ‘California Black Vows’ via Hospital Productions (pre-order) on June 14. Ahead of the release, the band has shared Cities Of The World, which is lifted from the album. You can take a listen via Bandcamp below.
About the song the band says, “When the cities shut down, we retreat to dark waters. There is no solace found around the corners and in the allies. The light may never come. Fog and haze will be all that remains.”
‘California Black Vows’ is available on all streaming services now. The album chronicles Clay Rendering’s move away from the comfort zone straight into the dark heart of the west. Since their last album, the band relocated from the suburbs of the Midwest to Los Angeles. The cover’s icicle is the last remnant of their time in familiar surroundings.
‘California Black Vows’ is the follow up to 2015’s ‘Snowthorn,’ also on Hospital Productions. A couple of EPs surfaced since the last full length, but the band has spent most of that time molding the new four-piece incarnation from the ground up and discovering the sounds and directions that new blood brings, while also acclimating to their new surreal setting. The result is a dimly lit journey into the wild nightside, where nothing is for sure. Where everything is tantalizing. Where Peg Entwistle appears thru a distant haze. Where the small hours creep by, never to return. Masks are off. A hypnotic trek into the center of Clay Rendering’s unique brand of gloom rock commences.
With Dylan Neal (Thief) on production duties, Clay Rendering have delivered their fullest and most fleshed out album to date. The immediacy of the recording gives the feel that these songs are taking shape as you hear them. Guitars melt over the keyboards and synths throughout the proceedings. The record is filled with a noir life force that transitions back and forth from desperate wails to moonlit hymns. The vocals are clearer and more direct than ever, letting you know exactly where Clay Rendering stand. The bass provides the heartbeat of the mission. The drums ensure everything lands in its place. Insomnia, frantic flailing, body language, staring into the forced and artificial landscape, finding solace among the chaotic foliage… all these things play a role. The comfort has been shed. Foreboding stars in the western lands bring out the strangest parts in us all. ‘California Black Vows’ is the howling cry to let those parts show their teeth and the soothing voice to let you know it will all be over in the morning.
‘California Black Vows’ track list
1. Blood Into Wine
2. Another Roll of Iron Dice
3. Once in the Well
4. We Wait
5. Black Vows
6. Cities of the World
7. Don’t Understand You
8. Closed Circle
9. Take Hold
Clay Rendering also announced a performance on June 14 at Zebulon as part of Hospital Productions West Coast showcase. Tickets are available here.
