Cloud Nothings Black Hole

Cloud Nothings surprise-release new album 'The Black Hole Understands' on Bandcamp

Earlier in the pandemic, Cloud Nothings frontman Dylan Baldi released an album of demos that were recorded for a scrapped solo album, and now Cloud Nothings have released a new album that was made entirely in isolation during this pandemic, The Black Hole Understands. “When the world shut down in March, making music was the only thing keeping me tethered to any sense of normalcy,” Dylan says. “The Black Hole Understands is a record born of this early quarantine anxiety and confusion.”

Dylan made the album by recording a guitar track in GarageBand and sending it to drummer Jayson Gerycz, who would then record his parts and send them back to Dylan, who’d build the rest of the song from there. Then Jayson mixed it and Jack Callahan mastered it. “It kind of shocks me that we managed to make this whole album via email,” Dylan adds.

As you may expect, it’s a little rougher sounding than the albums Cloud Nothings made together in a real studio with a seasoned producer, but this is yet another batch of great songs that should click instantly with CN fans. It’s the band’s first album since 2018’s Last Building Burning, which was the heaviest, punkiest album they’d ever written, but this one takes the opposite approach. It’s jangly and a little shoegazy and overall more relaxed than anything Cloud Nothings have put out before. Music like this works best with warm, sweet melodies, and Dylan provides plenty of those. Still, it’s a Cloud Nothings record, and they find time for some noise build-ups (“An Average World,” which also features synth by Bee Mask’s Chris Madak) and grittier guitar workouts (“Tall Gray Structure,” “The Black Hole Understands”) too.

The album is out now on Cloud Nothings’ Bandcamp, and today (7/3) is also a Bandcamp fundraiser day which means Bandcamp is waiving their cut of sales. The band is also donating 25% of sales to Play On Philly and Rainey Institute.

Listen below…