Lathe Of Heaven make the Rough Trade #OnTheRise list
“An exquisite sonic continuum.”
“These paths towards banal glory
All beauty is momentary”
“Formed in Brooklyn, NYC in 2021, Lathe of Heaven is a band built on variation. Though their primary sonic palette straddles both new wave and post-punk, each member brings their own independent experience, informed by time spent in alternate musical projects.
“…the intention here was to do something a little more indebted to new wave and post-punk, and with a sci-fi aesthetic.”
Signed to Sacred Bones in 2023, the band’s debut Bound by Naked Skies finds an accomplished record that fuses British new wave and Finnish post-punk elements with themes inspired by a number of sci-fi literary loves, including the work of American novelist Ursula K. Le Guin (whose 1971 novel is their namesake.) From the first listen, their collected experience has evidently weaved something wonderful.
The album’s opener At Moment’s Edge immediately sets the scene with a pounding, melodic rock song laced with glimmering synths, summoning a heavy atmosphere that is gratifyingly dingy. Everything is carefully and purposefully crafted – from the lyrical, to the musical, to the monochrome aesthetics that span both artwork and moving pictures – this is world building at its best.
Though perhaps the volume belies it, Bound by Naked Skies is an intimate odyssey of evolution and a gorgeously romanticised prescription for futuristic melancholy. Big tip.”
