Libbianski’s next move is clear from the first seconds of “Continue The Sad” — a slow-burn hit of shoegaze and doom-pop tones that anchors their new EP “EP1,” out December 5 via Over The Hill Records. The track arrives tomorrow, November 21, and it sets the foundation for a release built around dense guitars, steady low-end, and a stripped-back production approach the band handled themselves at home.
The EP was self-recorded and produced in their home studio, a detail that says a lot about the direction they’re taking. It’s a three-piece now, working off raw material, tightening what they do onstage into something that holds together without forcing polish. The band calls this stage a shift toward a “stripped-down studio sound,” driven by the energy they took from a long stretch of shows across New Zealand and Australia in 2024 under the Footstomp Music banner.
The track “Continue The Sad” sits at the front of that story. It’s the lead single, out tomorrow, and it sets the tone for what “EP1” aims for — hazy but direct, heavy but not posturing, leaning into the shoegaze/doom-pop mix they’ve been shaping since their formation in 2022. The band’s roots run through post-metal, alternative rock, and dream pop, and that blend shows up in the way they let guitars hit hard while the rhythm section keeps the songs moving with a certain steadiness.
Press voices around them have been specific. Under The Radar NZ described how “Libbianski unfurled their own exceptional contribution to Aotearoa’s shoegaze / dream-pop canon… Imbued with a distinctly not-so-quiet sonic majesty.” Music NZ framed their work as something that can catch listeners off-guard: “It’s the kind of album that might prompt someone not used to the style to either ask ‘what is this?’ or perhaps, ‘wow, this is different!’… one of the most interesting layerings of instrumentation and songwriting to be found anywhere.”
Their previous album “Useless Splendour” carried the weight of serious studio hands — recorded by Troy Kelly at The Armoury, mixed by Chris Johnson, and mastered by Alan Douches. The new EP pulls back from that level of outside involvement, but not from ambition. The band talk about finding “new focus in self-production and sonic experimentation,” which tracks with the way they’ve been writing: using noise as structure, building dynamics without crowding the songs.
“EP1” seems to move toward something a little more immediate, a little more internal, keeping their atmosphere intact while changing how close the listener sits to it. “Continue The Sad” is pushed as a doorway into that space — a single that pulls from melancholy without making it into spectacle.
The EP lands in December. The single hits tomorrow. And the band keep leaning into this slow-burn path where shoegaze, doom pop, and doom rock tendencies intersect without needing to announce the merge — they just build from where they stand and keep moving.
