Planes Mistaken for Stars have returned with their first new music since 2016, and it’s a deeply emotional release. The post-hardcore band, originally formed in Peoria in 1997, just dropped “Fix Me,” the first single from their upcoming album Do You Still Love Me?.
This record marks the band’s fifth studio effort and the first since the tragic passing of their frontman, Gared O’Donnell, who died in 2021 after battling esophageal cancer.
Do You Still Love Me? marks a harrowing document of life, death, and transcendence.
Written during the pandemic lockdown in Peoria, and recorded in Chicago with Sanford Parker (who also worked on their previous album Prey), the album was a labor of love under the shadow of O’Donnell’s illness. The band recorded the tracks while O’Donnell was undergoing chemo and radiation treatments, making this record a poignant testament to his resilience and the band’s unyielding spirit.
The album opens with “Matthew is Dead,” a gut-wrenching tribute to founding guitarist Matt Bellinger, who passed away in 2017. O’Donnell’s vocals are raw and visceral, seething with pain and loss as he confronts his mortality and the specter of death. The album, with its thirteen tracks, is a mix of blistering post-hardcore energy and moments of haunting, melodic introspection, all underlined by the knowledge that this was O’Donnell’s final work.
The recording process itself was unique and challenging. With the pandemic forcing isolation, much of the initial work on the album happened in O’Donnell’s home in Peoria. Neil Keener (bass) and O’Donnell spent countless hours crafting and documenting the music, which would later be completed by Mike Ricketts (drums) and Chuck French (guitar) before heading to Chicago to record with Parker. O’Donnell was involved in the early mixing stages but passed away before the album was completed.
His bandmates finished the album, haunted by his presence in every playback, striving to honor his memory in every decision they made.
“Fix Me” is a gritty, heavy track that encapsulates the raw emotion of the album. It’s a song that feels alive yet haunted, with O’Donnell’s voice echoing like a ghost through the riffs. The album as a whole is both an emotional bloodletting and a cathartic release for the band and their fans, offering a unique beauty born from pain and tragedy.
The cover artwork for Do You Still Love Me?, designed by J. Bannon, features photography by Rebecca O’Donnell and Jamie Kelter Davis, adding a personal touch to the album’s presentation. The final product is a collective effort by the band to create something that O’Donnell would be proud of, even in his absence.
This album isn’t just a farewell to O’Donnell; it’s a farewell to Planes Mistaken for Stars.
With the driving force of the band gone, the surviving members have decided that this will be their final album under the Planes Mistaken for Stars name. However, they’ve promised to continue working on and releasing the unreleased and unfinished songs that O’Donnell left behind, ensuring that his legacy will live on.
Do You Still Love Me? will be released on November 1, 2024, via Deathwish Inc.
