A record split into three movements doesn’t drift — it locks in, circles, and refuses to break. Fainting Dreams approach “The Silence of Birds That Rarely Sing” like a single piece with internal fault lines, each section carrying its own weight but bleeding into the next without pause.
The Denver band, now a full four-piece with Elle Reynolds joined by Francys Andros, John Willis, and Jared Barnes, push further from the sparse approach that shaped “You Can Be Anything.”
That record leaned into restraint; this one resists it. “After taking such a minimalist approach with ‘You Can Be Anything’, I was very excited to lean back into a much more dense and dynamic style of writing for this EP,” Reynolds says, pointing to the expanded lineup and their shared pull toward blackgaze and screamo as a turning point.
The structure came into focus after Reynolds became fixated on the live session format of Sugar Horse’s “Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico.” The idea was clear: one continuous arc, broken into three movements only for the listener’s sake. “We wanted to split the songs up into 3 movements for the sake of some accessibility but still create a thoroughly seamless and uninterrupted listening experience, both musically and thematically for people listening from front to back.”
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That sense of flow carries the writing outward. The first movement turns inward, dealing with illness and isolation; the second widens into collective responsibility; the third lands somewhere harder to hold, staring at collapse without offering relief.
“I” opens with Multiple Sclerosis and the long, exhausting push for recognition inside an indifferent medical system. Reynolds describes the slow erosion that comes with unexplained illness — people drifting, patience thinning, daily life shrinking.
“When you’re dealing with unexplained illness that has such a profound effect on your daily life, it’s only a matter of time before a large number of people in your life begin to lose patience and drift away, which is a very scary feeling, especially at first.” The track also carries the weight of witnessing their wife lose a grandmother to medical negligence.
The band wrote much of it together in a room, a first for them. The arrangement follows the emotional shift Reynolds had in mind: starting in something subdued, then tightening into anger. They aimed for a skramz and black metal edge without losing the negative space that has always defined their sound, letting it expand and then snap.
“II” had been sitting unfinished for years, a vocal idea that refused to settle until now. It becomes the EP’s quiet center — or what passes for quiet here. Influenced by the uncompromising pull of Swans and Sprain, it begins restrained and then drags itself into something suffocating, built on drones that feel physically heavy. The lyrics draw from Martin Niemöller’s “First They Came,” tracing the consequences of looking away while others are targeted. The tension isn’t released; it accumulates.
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By the time “III” arrives, the buildup has nowhere left to go but further. The band leaned into disorientation — abrupt transitions, uneven timing, moments where the vocals step back and the structure itself takes over. Even the softer passages carry friction underneath. Reynolds frames it as a space to confront climate collapse directly, without softening the anger. “Lyrically, this song was about letting myself express feelings of hopelessness around climate change and direct my anger towards those in power who think they’re safe from environmental collapse.”
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The visual side stays internal. Bassist and cellist Frankie handles the artwork, continuing a thread that runs through the band’s past releases. Living in Colorado, the imagery pulls from wildfire seasons where smoke turns the sun into a muted pink disc. That same pink becomes the only color used. Birds — a recurring element in Frankie’s work — circle back into the frame, tied to the EP’s title, taken from Augustina Bazterrica’s novel “The Unworthy.”
Fainting Dreams began in early 2022 as Reynolds’ solo project before expanding into a full band, their sound settling into a mix of slowcore, doom, post-metal, and shoegaze that moves in long arcs rather than sharp turns. Their live sets have already carried that approach into shared stages with Midwife, Flooding, Horse Jumper of Love, Frail Body, Gleemer, and Young Widows, where songs unfold less like individual pieces and more like extended states.
“The Silence of Birds That Rarely Sing” arrived April 6 through Softseed Records, with a release show and tour following.
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