Arenna Announce Breakup
This is a band who will probably be more missed than they know. Spanish heavy psychedelic rockers Arenna formed in 2005 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, part of Basque Country in Spain, and have announced that they’re done and that their impending third full-length is called off. Whatever stage of making it they might have been in, be it writing, recording or piecing together material in some other way, the prospect of being denied a follow-up to 2015’s Given to Emptiness (review here) and their 2011 debut album, Beats of Olarizu (discussed here; review here) — both issued through the esteemed Nasoni Records — is a sincere loss for the listeners who’ve been waiting for its arrival, and I count myself among that number.
Immediately my head goes three different places upon seeing their short mic-drop of a breakup announcement — literally, “Arenna is over and the new album won’t see the light.” First, as noted, bummer. Second, never say never. If we have to used the past tense about them, Arenna were a band that still had a lot to offer their audience, in the progressive breadth of their material, the warmth of their heavy psychedelic tonality and the serene pastoralism of their atmospheres. Maybe they’ll never be convinced to get back together and finish off what could’ve been, or maybe they will. This is rock and roll and even the most shut of doors can potentially reopen. History teaches us this again and again.
But for now at the very least, Arenna are done. Their final recording was the single “Οιδίπους 70º30´S (Cuidaos del Enigma)” that was included as part of Spinda Records’ sprawling Grados. Minutos. Segundos. split 7″ compilation (featured here) encompassing some of the Spanish underground’s finest acts. Arenna certainly deserved to be featured there as they were, and if indeed their third LP never surfaces, their capstone track is both a promise unfulfilled and well placed in the company it’s keeping among acts who no doubt have taken cues from them along the way. Their Bandcamp lists a show in October, but Bandcamp has its own mind about these things. The last show Arenna played was July 7 at the local festival Korterraza in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
The yet-unmentioned third place my head goes with this announcement is to wonder what happened to make them want to stop at all. This was a vibrant, creative band, who seemed to have more in the works and more to say. Whatever their reason for cutting their tenure short — and calling it “short” is saying something for a band who were together for 17 years — they will always have left an ellipses where that record could have been.
Their brief post follows, as seen on socials:
R.I.P.
2005-2022
Arenna is over and the new album won’t see the light.
Thank you to everyone who has been a part, helped and/or supported.
https://www.facebook.com/arennarock
https://www.instagram.com/arennarock/
https://arenna.bandcamp.com/
https://arenna.bigcartel.com/
