Californian blackgaze overlords Deafheaven have returned with ear-smashing new single Magnolia to start the engines on imminent sixth album Lonely People With Power. We sat down with frontman George Clarke to find out how falling back in love with heavy music led to the most representative record yet of exactly who they are...
It’s been a busy few years for Deafheaven. The San Francisco blackgaze heavyweights travelled tens of thousands of miles in support of 2021’s mesmeric fifth album Infinite Granite, cropping up alongside everyone from Knocked Loose to Interpol and at festivals as varied as Outbreak, ArcTanGent and the Edinburgh Fringe. They’ve celebrated 10 years of 2013 masterpiece Sunbather and signed a new record deal with mega-label Roadrunner. Then they went into the studio with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen to record sixth album Lonely People With Power.
Catching up with frontman George Clarke at his home in Los Angeles – where he’s recently seen friends lose their homes to the out-of-control wildfires – there is hell of a lot about which to talk. How, after 15 years together as a band, they’ve developed relationships across the world of alternative: as comfortable throwing down with hardcore trailblazers as dabbling in prog-rock. Why, having so recently veered into softer shoegaze territory, they’ve returned to a truly heavy sound showcased on bracing new single Magnolia. And whether that painfully prescient album title refers to the poorly-socialised political elite or to the personal relationships that shape us all…
World politics seem to be plagued more and more so by wealthy and influential people lacking in meaningful human relationships. Are those the Lonely People With Power you’re looking at?
“Obviously there’s an inherent political meaning in the title. In a broad sense, it’s an album about how people who wield influence often don’t have real friendships or intimate connections, and how that shapes their ideas of power, which can be – at best – morally ambiguous. In the same way that Deafheaven has always operated, though, it’s a vessel for the personal [more than the political]. It’s referring specifically to close people of influence in our lives: parents, teachers and so forth. Recognising how their perspective shapes our worldview. In that, sometimes ‘loneliness’ is a stand-in for ‘ignorance’ or ‘narcissism’ or ‘spiritual vacancy’. It’s about recognising the motivations behind what we’re taught, separating ourselves from what can feel like a fixed narrative or destiny, and finding a way to forgive those who have fixed these ideas in us...”
Is loneliness a prerequisite for power, at least to some extent?
“That’s an interesting question. The lack of community, self-isolation, self-preservation, selfish motivation are all things that one needs to amass control, garner power, or simply to see that power as more valuable than the other. [You see it so often in politics and in industry.] So, yes, it does feel like a prerequisite.”
How have your feelings about that influenced you musically? Magnolia feels more aggressive than Deafheaven have been in some time, but you’re fluent in broad range of sounds...
“It’s a continuation of how we’ve operated before. Yes, Magnolia is quite musically aggressive. And there are parts throughout the record that sound similar. There is definitely a degree of ferocity to Lonely People With Power, but it has always been an aim for Deafheaven to maintain an emotional core and not to see things through any singular lens. In that sense, much of the record is about forgiving, or recognising power dynamics, including your own: the power you wield, making sure you are in good standing before you exert yourself onto others. So yes, there is anger. But there’s also resolve, forgiveness, recognition. And they come across in a well-rounded sonic palette.”
The name ‘Magnolia’ isn’t emblematic of its gnarly sound. Is the colourful misdirection intentional?
“It’s fun to think of it that way. I guess [as with Sunbather] that’s just my taste. I like to mix-and-match the ways of [seeing] a song. On a personal level, Magnolia is the state flower of Mississippi, where my family come from. A lot of this record has to do with what you learn from family. So when I was thinking about titles it was one of the first things I came into my head!”
That idea of family fits with the candid, photo album aesthetic of LPWP’s artwork and videos...
“We’ve made a series of videos that will gradually be unveiled. The first teaser has a kind of voyeuristic aspect to it. The album cover itself relates to the lyrics of one of a track called Incidental III. As people become more familiar with the album and its meanings, I think that will become more obvious. Also, the broader graphic idea has to do with the lyrics to another song called Amethyst. It’s portraying a fictionalised, voyeuristic version of true stories from our lives.”
One might see that artwork as parents talking across their kid in the passenger seat of a car, or it could be a father pulling up to a woman on the street for something less wholesome…
“It’s up for people to make up their own minds. You can see the adult driving, the woman at the window and the child in the passenger seat. It’s for people to question that as they will. But people will always find more questions than they will receive answers. For us, that’s important.”
The trio of ‘Incidental’ tracks run through the record like a backbone. How integral are they?
“They’re stitch-pieces, really – or interludes. To call them the ‘backbone’ would be too strong. But each one has its own unique character that serves the mood in sections of the record. They help move it along in a nice, fluid way. They create a little more dynamic, a little more drama.”
That dynamic sensibility, and the shards of heavier material, feel like a marked change of direction after the more shoegazey Infinite Granite. Is it a reaction to that record?
“As fun and necessary as Infinite Granite was, and how proud we are of that album, it was the process of touring those songs that re-sparked our love of heavy music – not that it ever really went away. We’d played that [mellower] music for so long that we wanted to play some heavier stuff. Plus, we got a chance to do the Sunbather anniversary shows and then toured with Knocked Loose, which was a ton of fun. It reinvigorated that spirit of playing fast and hard. For Kerry [McCoy, guitar] in particular, it led to the personal realisation that this is the music he likes to make. He had a real vision for bringing back that speed and heft, albeit with the proviso that the record is still very Deafheaven. It hasn’t just gone off in any one direction.”
You’ve also released music with Alto Arc since Infinite Granite. Has that project broadened horizons in terms of possibilities for Deafheaven’s sound?
“In terms of my voice, it certainly influenced the new Deafheaven. I got more comfortable with different ranges, and different kinds of voices, and applied them to this new album. Is there more to come from that project? They’re my buds and I love them to death, but everyone is incredibly busy with their other projects so we’ve not been able to do much. But the door is definitely open!”
You’ve played all sorts of events in recent years and already announced a range from Outbreak to Welcome To Rockville and Jera On Air next summer. Do you enjoy stepping between scenes?
“I think the pleasure is really in being able to do whatever we want. It’s always been difficult to know exactly where we ‘sit’, where we’re ‘welcome’ or ‘the lane that we should stay in’. For us, it’s more that if you like our band and what we do, if you find us interesting and you’d like us to play in your festival, that’s flattering. We’re always excited to cross those boundaries. And it’s led to a broad spectrum of friendships across different scenes. That’s why we played with Knocked Loose and Interpol last year. We’re open minded and we like when people are open-minded about us.”
2025 marks 15 years of Deafheaven. Are you interested in marking those kinds of milestones?
“I don’t often think about those things, so when someone mentions that it’s been like 15 years, it’s just like, ‘Oh, wow!’ I was having a similar conversation with Kerry the other day. Every time we’re about to announce or to release a new record, I feel the same level of nerves that I did for the first one. I have the same excitement and anxiety because, for me, we are always just coming out. We have something new to show the world. Sometimes I wish that I could get rid of it or be comfortable that we’ve been around for a long time already and know what we’re doing. But I can’t. I always feel energised and ready to go, like we’re a new band. There are always new mountains to climb, new fans to meet, new peers to play with. I’m just in the here and now. I think that’s part of what it takes to do what we do and keep moving forward.”
Where will that eternal forward motion carry you throughout 2025?
“Everything that Deafheaven make is for ourselves, but this time I also wanted to make an album that could be for someone who was completely unfamiliar with us. For me, Lonely People With Power is the strongest representation of what our band is. So I look forward to showing that to anyone who is able to look. Firstly, we will do that in the online sphere. Then we will do it live onstage. We’re ready to show people exactly who we are...”
Lonely People With Power is release on March 28 via Roadrunner.
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