THOTCRIME has today announced their third album, “Connection Anxiety”, due for release this summer via Prosthetic Records on August 16. Alongside the album announcement, the US / UK based cybergrind band has shared the two lead singles, The Wrong Way and Behind the Cracks. On “Connection Anxiety”, THOTCRIME all out embrace jubilation and celebration, pulling influence from rave, J-rock and J-Metal, electronicore and pop.
Speaking on the album announcement, Les Beaux Plastiques (producer) comments: “When we started working on a follow up to D1G1T4L_DR1FT, we decided that we wanted to explore our favourite aspects from our past while exploring more of where we were at the time. All the guitars are real, all the drums were written by our drummer, the mixing and production has taken a big step up, and there’s a lot more 90’s and 00’s rave elements, to inform a more unified direction, while still maintaining the THOTCRIME ethos of chaos and genrefluidity.”
With vocalist Hayley Elizabeth adding: “”Connection Anxiety” is a lot of things. This record feels like a proclamation that we’re holding out for hope. I hope the record is as fun as it is proactive. I hope that our third entry solidifies our existence in a world that is constantly changing. I also hope that our fans listening to this record resonate with it’s message: “a better world is possible, and it’s okay that change happens even if it’s scary.””
Garnering praise from outlets such as Metal Hammer, Kerrang! and Metal Injection, THOTCRIME’s sophomore effort, D1G1T4L_DR1FT, was the beginning of a self-actualization for the young band.
Two albums under their belts and countless hours spent collaborating via online servers and the first ever full member line-up tour soon followed in the United States, with Hayley Elizabeth (vocals), Melody Jane (guitar) and Dottie Homler (drums) meeting co-founding member Les Beaux Plastiques (production) for the first time in person.
Affirming THOTCRIME’s evolution from a studio project into something altogether more tangible, writing for “Connection Anxiety” took place throughout 2023. With the group’s voracious creative appetite rarely letting up as things took a more collaborative turn on the production front as Elizabeth soon found herself taking on shared duties with Beau across the 10 songs. Homler also took the lead on all drum programming on hir final work with the band and Melody’s approach to guitar saw the use of live instrumentation compared to THOTCRIME’s previously digitally inclined tendencies.
THOTCRIME’s propensity for whiplash-inducing breakdowns and edge of your seat blast beating is still there in songs such as We Hope Some Good May Come of This (feat. Bottom Surgery) and the title-track, whilst lead single The Wrong Way positively brims with saccharine hooks as Hayley posits “Is it wrong to try something new?” in a chorus fit for the most intoxicating of PC-Music artists.
Emancipating from past sores and pains is a necessary path of growth, which makes “Connection Anxiety”’s gravitation towards positivity and a warehouse rave informed sonic palette singular in its creators earnestness and sanguinity.
Elizabeth’s heart-on-her-sleeve lyricism is less an abandon of THOTCRIME’s previous works fraughtness, so much as a perspective shift into the self-affirming and proactive.
Tied together by returning digital artist Yam Lynn, “Connection Anxiety”’s smile beneath the cracks rather than over them is a testament to resilience by way of dancing with and for those dearest.
Upcoming THOTCRIME shows:
Connection: Disrupted West Coast w/ Anita Velveeta
August 24 – Howdy – Kansas City, MO
August 25 – Seventh Circle – Denver, CO
August 27 – Las Vegas, NV
August 29 – Knockout – San Francisco, CA
August 30 – Scribble – Los Angeles, CA
August 31 – The Nile – Phoenix, AZ
September 1 – The Minnow – Albuquerque, NM
September 2 – Andy’s Bar – Denton, TX
September 4 – LCY Media – Birmingham, AL
September 5 – Healer – Indianapolis, IN
September 6 – Pillar Forum – Minneapolis, MN
September 7 – Subterranean (downstairs) – Chicago, IL
