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“We did two days in a studio with no click or overdubs or stitching. I feel if you add too many layers or correct things too much, it sucks the life out of an album,”
Says guitarist Wes on the recording philosophy of lozenge’s upcoming album, You Are Always With Me.
Since forming in 2022, lozenge have built themselves a kaleidoscopic vision of LA post-hardcore. Their first EPs pull at the contradictions of the genre, with songs that begin wrapped in the lo-fi warmth of fuzzy guitars before crescendoing into stark and dissonant tangles.
On You Are Always With Me, the band’s debut full length, lozenge step into a clearer and bleaker light. Lead single “Communion Wine” instantly establishes an eerie mood as the vocals flip from a muted slacker delivery into dry screams overtop teetering guitars. On the new release, founding members Wes Nelson (guitar, vocals) and Guthrie Gates (guitar) are joined by Andrew Chanover on drums and Ari Bone on bass.
death of a rabbit recently caught up with the band to learn more about the album and the group’s origins. You Are Always With Me will be released November 13th 2026 via Dead Mothers Collective (US) and Hunkofplastic Records (UK).
DOAR: Some of y’all play in other bands/projects around LA, what makes lozenge different? What was the spark that started this band?
WES: We all play in different projects. Me and Andrew both play in Shearling and Ari plays in Valley Porno People. For me, lozenge is the first band I started after moving to LA so it precedes everything. Me and Guthrie met at Calarts a handful of years ago and we started just making music together. We’ve had a couple member shifts, but every person from the beginning until now has had a significant impact on the way the music sounds. We’re a pretty collaborative band and we write a lot together, so naturally it’s going to sound different than everyone’s other projects.
DOAR: “Communion Wine” feels like a departure from your previous material, particularly in terms of your recording approach. What inspired that shift?
WES: I think part of the reason it sounds so different is the EP we released before was actually recorded super early, like 2023 or something. I was really into four track recording back then so the first two releases are pretty lo-fi sounding, like I wanted it to sound like the hardcore punk tapes that I used to get at shows in Chicago, but not punk musically. Also, I think in a span of two to three years our tastes have changed a lot, for me playing in Shearling has really changed the way I look at writing and playing music. Also, in between those releases I banned the use of reverb or delay pedals in lozenge haha so that’s naturally going to change the sound a lot. I like shoegaze, but trying to move away from that sound or aesthetic these days and into something that feels more personal and unique to us. As for the recording quality on the new record that’s coming out, I wanted it to sound clear and dry, like Fugazi or Unwound or something. We did two days in a studio with no click or overdubs or stitching. I feel if you add too many layers or correct things too much, it sucks the life out of an album which is always a huge fear of mine.
DOAR: Do you find a sense of place influences your writing much? In what ways?
GUTHRE: I think place and atmosphere influence me deeply. For example the stuff I write sounds much different depending on if I wrote it in LA or Chicago where I’m from. Even the decor in the room I’m in has an effect.
DOAR: Who are some singers or writers who inspire you from a lyrical perspective?
WES: Too many to name, but I was reading a lot of Wanda Coleman poems when we were writing the songs on the new record. I appreciate how uncompromised her anger was, and rightfully so after considering what she faced during her lifetimes. Her work has this punk rock urgency while keeping some things abstract, forcing you to read it over and over. My lyrics don’t resemble her writing in any way, but I’m very influenced by how her work makes me feel.
DOAR: Are there any big motifs or themes you find yourself returning to when you write for lozenge?
ANDREW: On a musical level, I notice the band intuitively writes a lot of interlocking parts. Very rarely are people doing the same thing, it’s sort of like a musical mosaic. I am often trying to create contrasting parts more so than parallel ones.
DOAR: What’s a lyric that you wish you’d written?
WES: Probably the Piano Has Been Drinking by Tom Waits. Really creative and has his humor embedded right in it, I think I just want to be him honestly.
Check out lead single, “Communion Wine” below!
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