Emo Trio Rainer Maria Share Fierce New Song, “Lower Worlds”

Emo-rock trio Rainer Maria were at their initial peak from the mid-90s-early 2000’s before their breakup in 2006, but after playing some live shows together a few years back and teasing some new music, the band has officially announced the release of their first new album in over a decade—and today we were graced with its first single, “Lower Worlds.” Listen to the audio below.

The Wisconsin-turned-New York-based rockers were pioneers in the late-’90’s/early-’00s emo wave: Their music is driven by hypnotic, tense, emotionally packed, ragged guitars and shimmering literary references (in case you didn’t know, the band is named after the German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke), which are executed through vocals that are chillingly harmonized.

“Lower Worlds” is an agglomeration of all the strengths of the band’s old music, but shows apparent growth and maturity—it’s a nearly four-minute wildly intense, riff-fierce, just plain badass ballad. The song is a great ‘we’re back’ tune—it’s familiar enough for old fans and a fresh enough jolt of energy for new ones. Everything about the song is cool.

Rainer Maria’s reunion album S/T will be out Aug. 18 on Polyvinyl Records. Listen to “Lower Worlds” below, and check out the album art for the new record beneath that.