[*NOTE: It’s not a full-length. It’s one song. I’ve snuck EPs and splits into this feature before, but this is the first single I’ve done in memory in this format. Something new. Big day for me. Thanks for reading.]

Fortunately, it hasn’t been all that long since the last we heard from The Otolith. In September, the Salt Lake City five-piece took part in Desert Records‘ split series, Legends of the Desert, sharing a split LP alongside the also-Utah-based woodsy crunch-blues duo Eagle Twin, for which they presented the first two new songs since their wrenching 2022 debut, Folium Limina (review here). But just because it’s only been a few months doesn’t make the new single “Glimmer” any less welcome.

Released just this past Wednesday, March 5, presumably to get ahead of the somehow-inevitable onslaught of Bandcamp Friday offerings (oh no, more new music! run!) from artists around the world, “Glimmer” didn’t arrive with a ton of fanfare. They posted it on socials, and Blues Funeral Recordings, which also released the full-length and has been behind the band since their inception following the breakup of SubRosa in 2019. Inheriting vocalist/violinists Kim Cordray and Sarah Pendleton, guitarist Levi Hanna and drummer/producer Andy Patterson from that band and bringing in bassist/vocalist Matt Brotherton (Visigoth, Huldra) to complete the lineup, The Otolith captured the flattening resonance of most of its component members’ prior outfit while working pointedly to set out on a new creative path.

“Glimmer,” about which little actual information was posted — one assumes Patterson recorded it both because of how it sounds and because when you have that dude in your band why would you go anywhere else — continues that thread. It is reportedly, “one of their favorite tracks to perform live” — which of course implies the song has been around for some time; it’s not so new they’ve never played it before — and perhaps part of the reason why is for the simple contrast it makes with the rest of the material they’ve released to-date. Part of what The Otolith carried forward on Folium Limina and Legends of the Desert Vol. 4 was the sense of immersion, the otherworldly float of the violins over such crushing tonality, and a patient execution thereof.

I wouldn’t call “Glimmer” gleeful by any means in shirking the norm, because it certainly isn’t a gleeful sound, but the label refers to it as “cathartic” and this too would seem to derive from the band working at a faster pace and with a more immediate structure. I could very easily see standing in front of a stage and having my brain melt out of my ears as The Otolith lay out the dronescape at the start of the song — pure daydream as I’ve not yet been fortunate enough to see The Otolith live — and take it from the quiet guitar that follows and adds one element at a time, the violins, the hissing snares behind, the vocals, the bass, gradually unfolding and piecing itself together with suitable, signature presence before dropping everything but the violins and bass at 1:30, to 10 seconds later where the entire thing explodes into an intense, elephantine lumber. Bass leads through a chugging section and backing growls take their own course in the chorus that follows, violin still bringing melody to the upper frequency echelons of the mix. Just at three minutes in, they switch to more of a foward roll and that brings them to a finish of standalone vocals.

To-date, there has not been such an efficient encapsulation of The Otolith‘s sound — and I’ll drop the caveat that no, they’re not representing the totality of what they do in one sub-four-minute track; up to now, long songs has been part of that same methodology — or the powerful sweep of which their music is capable. The counterargument there is that perhaps until “Glimmer,” being efficient hasn’t been a primary concern for The Otolith nearly so much as building flowing arrangements and highlighting the ambience, emotionality, the depth of their work and the unmitigated heft they keep in reserve for when they need it. On the balance, their vocal harmonies are no less heavy than the guitar, bass or drums that reguarly churn like tectonics to accompany, and the question that “Glimmer” leaves open is if it is a sign of things to come or if this song, born for the stage and perhaps put to tape at the same time as the tracks for the Legends of the Desert split — I don’t know that, hence “perhaps” — the standalone single is less a shift in norms than a purposeful abberation from them, whether it was written ‘to be different’ or not.

The immediacy doesn’t hurt “Glimmer” in the slightest, and The Otolith seem to have zero trouble harnessing a world from a more linear-feeling course, so take it as a win either way. Whether it is a portent or not is academic at least for now, that it exists at all is further case for The Otolith‘s ongoing development moving forward from the less than ideal circumstances of their founding in the dissolution of SubRosa and honoring that past while letting evolution happen on new strides like this. When it was written becomes relevant if one wants to look at “Glimmer” as indication of where The Otolith are headed, but at the risk of sounding like less of a rock-blogger, maybe we can just take a couple days and appreciate it on its own terms while letting its ultimate context in the timeline of the band’s still-hopefully-barely-begun tenure work itself out later, organically. Fair enough.

Whether one basks in the finer details of its mix — that light bass chug in the calm before the storm, hints of tension on the horizon, or the smoothness of the awakening that gets the band to that unleashing point, etc. — or passes through “Glimmer” en route to whatever the next thing may be (I’m not judging; we all have those days), the brevity of the song makes it feel no less declarative, even if some of what’s being declared will have to remain a mystery for the time being.

Either way you go, as always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

This weekend, we’re hosting — as is our wont — a cross-family gathering for my wife’s mother’s birthday. It’s a big one, so in a few minutes I’ll wrap this up probably on the quick and get back to cleaning the house. Vacuuming needs to get done. I’ve been in and out all morning, went to the grocery store, took out recycling, vacuumed upstairs yesterday, wiped down the bathroom downstairs and picked up upstairs, will windex the big mirror and the bathroom mirrors, blah blah blah, keeping up on dishes from The Patient Mrs.’ baking, putting the ‘big room’ in order including getting one of the foldout tables that I already forgot once (damn) from the garage and picking up The Pecan’s toys from the living room, along with whatever else. She made a rad tower, did the kid, and I told her it had to come down today, and she was bummed. Nature of the thing.

I have a couple reviews set for next week — Naxatras and Rwake — and a premiere for The Riven, so that should be good. I’m behind on news and everything and Bandcamp Friday is today so I’ve gotten more than a literal 300 emails this morning and it’s 11AM. Not that I’m reading them all, but they still require time and attention both of which are in e’er-dwindling supply.

But that’s the story of it. The Pecan had half-days this past Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, for parent-teacher conferences. I stayed with kiddo while The Patient Mrs. went. She’s doing fine academically, is weird about food and doesn’t want to take off her jacket. I think we’ll end up working an accommodation for extra food time, but if she feels weird about eating in front of people — COMES BY IT HONESTLY — then I’m less certain a decent answer is letting her be the only one still eating after everyone else is done. Teachers are smarter than me though, so I’m sure it’ll work out.

Oh yeah and the world’s horrifying and ending not soon enough. Wouldn’t want to neglect mentioning that just because I’m distracted thinking about how in 25 minutes I need to put syran wrap on a ginger cake. It’s cool, I set an alarm for it.

My sincere best to you and yours. I’m gonna get going on the weekend and take some pictures of that tower before I pull it down, which I promise not to enjoy doing. At all. Have a great and safe couple days. Don’t forget to hydrate, don’t get too stoned at your mother-in-law’s birthday party (maybe talking to myself a little there), and be careful out there because these are stupid, dangerous times. Love as much and as often as you can stand to do so.

And I say this every week, but new shirts are coming soon. April? I said next month last month, but whatever. I think it’s gonna be The Obelisk like Sleep and Black Sabbath Master of Reality logos. Classic stuff but hopefully they can stay up for a while. Will keep you posted.

FRM.

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