“We wanted this album to be as ugly and as horribly truthful as possible.”
This quote, from Gatherers vocalist Rich Weinberger, is the perfect precursor to lead single from their newest record, “The Floorboards Are Breathing,” a single expected to evoke displeasure.
The new tone for Gatherers
Armed with a vision to create composed, controlled uneasiness, Gatherers dove into the writing of this record with a specific intent. “The Floorboards Are Breathing” is an opening to this intent, fostering chilling uneasiness from the very beginning.
The instrumentals are drawn out. Very long, very dreary. Providing a tone of uncertainty. Vocally, Weinberger is pushing out the words with clarity, carrying a somber undertone. Everything about the song before the first chorus is eerie. As the song builds, so does the heightened sense of peculiarity. You feel as if you’re supposed to be sympathetic but are unsure why. Diving into the chorus, the ambient urgency of the power behind sadness pushes forward. Continuing through to the end of the song. One thing is for sure: the song carries immense pain.
Complexities of the concepts
Inspired by a documentary that unwraps one of the worst documented cases of domestic abuse, Gatherers took a delicate approach to the music video. Main goal: evoke those feelings the song and subject matter give off. This had to be done while still keeping things clean cut and pristine.
To achieve the point of despair and nuance, the video uses several techniques. A storyline of a woman singing to herself who’s face is never shown. She’s shown setting up various knives and using them to strike the spaces in between her fingers on a wooden desk. Paired with a cool, dull color palette of blue and pink.
Gatherers’ third album, We Are Alive Beyond Repair, is influenced by English authors and abstract ideas. Every part of “The Floorboards Are Breathing” is an open door for what’s to come on June 1.