Big|Brave have announced in grief or in hope, their tenth full-length, due June 12 via Thrill Jockey. The Montreal trio have also shared lead single “the ineptitude for mutual discernment,” alongside a video directed by guitarist Mat Ball with colour correction by filmmaker Stacy Lee.
The album marks a notable shift in lineup and approach. Longtime touring bassist Liam Andrews, also known for his work with My Disco and Aicher, enters the studio with vocalist/guitarist Robin Wattie and guitarist Mathieu Ball for the first time, with drummer Tasy Hudson absent from the sessions. Recorded live, the record leans into denser, more guitar-forward compositions, folding in textured loops and transformed vocals alongside the kind of suffocating low-end pressure that has made the band one of Montreal’s most uncompromising exports.
Wattie described the album’s thematic core plainly: “I wanted to explore catchy, melodic phrasing weaved throughout the intensity of the instrumentation and droney chord changes. All that I could reflect on was grief and hope; death and life; cause and effect; shared experiences of being a human person.” The single is built around a three-chord structure that keeps Wattie’s vocals more centrally placed than on previous recordings, though the surrounding noise and feedback give no ground.
in grief or in hope pulls explicitly from the band’s own catalogue. The track “verdure” echoes the melody and title of the opening track from their 2014 debut Feral Verdure, while “the ineptitude for mutual discernment” revisits lyrical territory from Au De La, their 2015 sophomore record. Albums like A Gaze Among Them, nature morte, and A Chaos of Flowers have all carried similar threads, and Ball and Andrews released their debut together as Spillings earlier this year.
The band heads to Europe beginning May 24 in Utrecht, with dates running through June 3 in Berlin. North American tour dates are expected to follow.
in grief or in hope tracklist: “what may be the kindest way to leave,” “a shape of shame,” “the ineptitude for mutual discernment,” “holding tongue,” “verdure,” “skin ripper,” “an uttering of antipathy,” “in grief or in hope.”
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