On the untouchable 2017 LP Time Well, Cloakroom dialed in and perfected their take on modern slowcore, blending Hum-flavored space rock and atomically heavy walls of guitars with syrupy, dreary, and heart-wrenchingly sad vocal melodies. The Northwest Indiana trio have since undergone a lineup shift, and some members have also spread their wings in other projects. Founding drummer Brian Busch has departed, replaced by Chicago hardcore stalwart Tim Remis (from Sweet Cobra, the Killer, and countless other bands), while singer-guitarist Doyle Martin is now pulling double duty as a full-time member of shoegaze-revival powerhouse Nothing and bassist Bobby Markos has launched a cinematic acoustic solo project called Documa. Judging from Cloakroom’s brand-new third album, Dissolution Wave (Relapse), those changes (and the ongoing pandemic) have impacted the band’s approach to songwriting, ushering in a new era and pushing them in a more escapist direction. Dissolution Wave is a loose rock opera centered in a cosmic space, with songs that combine space rock and western rock for a dreamier, less aggressive feel than Cloakroom’s previous work. “Dreaming up another world felt easier to digest than the real nitty-gritty we’re immersed in every day,” Martin explains in the album’s press materials. This is still recognizably the Cloakroom that I’ve always loved so much, but new leaves are turning over: the tracks remain heavy and heady, but they’re more ethereal and take more room to breathe, evoking atmosphere and drawing out tension rather than focusing solely on crushing heaviness. Dissolution Wave is as yearning and forlorn as Cloakroom’s earlier records, but the bleakness isn’t overwhelming—warm hooks and sunny hope glimmer through the darkness.
Cloakroom, Matt Talbott, Physical Medium (DJ set), Fri 1/28, 10 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $18, $16 in advance, 21+
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