Upcoming Releases
Vancouver’s late-’90s post-hardcore greats By A Thread mark their return with the announcement of Mirrored Life—the band’s first new album in 14 years—and the single “Void.” Set for release September 12th on Spartan Records, Mirrored Life is a brooding, reverb-drenched record that channels grief, growth, and hard-won perspective into the band’s heaviest, most collaborative music yet. Self-produced by the band, recorded by Stuart McKillop at Raincity Recorders, and mixed by John Franco, the album breathes new life into By A Thread while staying true to the raw emotional core of their sound.
Lead single and album opener “Void” makes a powerful impression, immediately launching with infectious rhythms that feel nostalgic and modern all at once. Vocals soar with passion, delivering cathartic lines like “Disconnected from hope with no direction, where to go? And broken roads won’t lead us home to the places we should know.”
On the track, guitarist Sean Lande shares:
“Feeling alone in a world that seems, in many ways, to be dying. Consumerism, a lack of empathy for other living beings and cognitive dissonance. It’s important to me to keep my eyes open and understand how our actions create a ripple effect.”
By A Thread made their first mark in 1999 with Last of the Daydreams (Revelation Records), a record that quietly carved out a place in melodic-hardcore history through introspective lyrics and explosive energy. In 2011, after a stretch of relative quiet and lineup shifts, the band released their self-titled second full-length. Written and recorded years earlier, that album was delayed by assorted complications, and its eventual arrival served as both reintroduction and evolution. After stepping away once again, core songwriters Sean Lande and John Franco regrouped during the pandemic with drummer Gabe Mantle (Gob), writing and recording Mirrored Life; bassist Carl McBeath joined later, rounding out the lineup for the album’s release and beyond.
From the start, the band knew they wanted Mirrored Life to revisit their early fire while fully embracing their growth. Reverb-heavy pedalboards and moody, deliberate tempos replaced the radio-ready instincts of earlier material. “This is essentially an anti-pop record,” Franco explains. “It’s meant to feel heavy.”
Lyrically, the album dives deep into themes of loss, identity, and introspection. The songs course through existentialism, the current state of the world, how we treat others, self reflection and loss.
Lande expands:
“As we get older I do see people lose some of their fire and empathy. That hasn’t happened to me yet. I do hope I have better ways to deal with difficult things, and music is one of them. We’ve also experienced the death of people very dear to us. Speaking about these things is cathartic and brings more meaning to our music. We came from punk and hardcore and we still feel passionate about our inner and outer worlds.”
Mirrored Life track listing:
- Void
- Dyed In The Wool
- Sub Rosa
- Connaught
- Tempest
- Radiation
- Gravely
- Mirrored Life
