San Jose slowcore band Duster have inspired countless indie-rock staples who came in their wake, experiencing enough of a resurgence in the past few years that they reformed to release their self-titled album (their first in two decades) in 2019. Now, band members Clay Parton, Canaan Dove Amber and Jason Albertini have returned once again with a surprise album, Together.
The band released the album in its entirety on YouTube Thursday night, sharing an official music video for each track before it hit streaming services this morning. The music and the visuals both slot perfectly into the hazy, fuzzed-out musical world they’ve continued to build on-and-off since their 1998 debut. Hypnotic and cohesive, it makes a worthy addition to the Duster canon, so likely to seep into your system upon re-listening that it’ll feel like it’s always been there.
The band shared the following statement about the album on their Bandcamp page:
Gather your loved ones, Together is here. Duster’s fourth album is a 13-song exploration of comfortable, interplanetary goth. A sonic vaseline of submerged guitars, solder-burned synths, and over-driven rhythm tracks. “I know people say, ‘Oh Duster music so sad,’ we’ve even said it ourselves before,” Clay Parton said. “But it’s a lot more like absurdism than nihilism.”
You can check out the video for Together opener “New Directions” below, and keep scrolling to stream the complete album. You can purchase a physical copy of the album here.