Avant noir trio SANNHET are today streaming their upcoming new album, So Numb, via The Independent. So Numb will be released worldwide via Profound Lore this coming Friday, 25 August.
Having already released the video for the track Salts last month- striking video that echoes the album’s themes of addiction and affliction- the accompanying interview with The Independent focuses in part on the visual aesthetic of SANNHET - a band that says so much without the use of lyrics. AJ Annunziata talks about the inspirations and personal experiences that paved the way for So Numb, leading The Independent to describe the record as "a powerful representation of the band’s internal conflicts, the original wound, self-destruction and the redemptive qualities they continue to seek for the rest of their lives."
The New York-based three piece have always been hard to classify. Since 2010, they have played instrumental music that’s heavy and light, cinematic and intimate, dense but minimal. You could call them “post” something, “experimental metal,” or “math rock,” but none of that’s quite right and the band has thrown another wrinkle into the mix with So Numb. While they don’t write lyrics, they do write subtexts. They pen love letters, extended epistles, and suicide notes, all without words. With So Numb, SANNHETcreate a new world out of very few ingredients.
Though SANNHET meditate on life’s imperfect escapes, So Numb’s nine songs showcase the band facing life’s pain and joy with their eyes wide open. The collection’s emotional landscape is one of existential dread, melancholy, and loss - ammunition for escapists. Despite these existential conundrums, So Numb has an uplifting, euphoric feel.
The collection was recorded and produced by Peter Katis, who’s known for his work with Mercury Rev, Interpol, the National, and Oneida among others. Working with Katis, the production illuminates a more open sound for the band. While Sannhet’s second album, 2015’s Revisionist, was bigger and harsher than their 2013 debut, Known Flood, they offer a more wistful, melodic approach here.
The cover of SANNHET's third album, So Numb, features a mother shielding her son’s eyes with her hands - an allegory depicting the protection one receives from their parents, but it isn’t meant to be sentimental. As the mother shelters her child, she inadvertently creates a false sense of safety. The child, in turn, spends it's life seeking comfort and escape in temporary solutions.
Tracklist:
1. Indigo Illusion
2. Sapphire
3. So Numb
4. Fernbeds
5. Salts
6. Way Out
7. Secondary Arrows
8. Sleep Well
9. Wind Up