Equal Vision Records and Hail The Sun are excited to present the forward-thinking California rock band’s brand new single, “Secondary Worship.” In true Hail The Sun form, “Secondary Worship” is a flashy display of instrumental gymnastics with a deeply personal meaning at its core. “An overarching concept in much of our previous works has been about changing the defects of one's character, but it came from such a darker place,” frontman Donovan Melero says. “While I haven’t mastered it, I’ve certainly gotten better at directing my energy into the places it’s better suited for. And the places I want to go. Nothing is as pure as the feeling of alignment. ‘Secondary Worship’ is a story of the next part of that process." Stream “Secondary Worship” on YouTube HERE and on all platforms HERE.
Additionally, Hail The Sun have announced its headline appearance at this year’s Kill Iconic Festival at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA on Saturday, March 23 alongside a North American co-headline tour spanning March and April with Intervals. Tickets for all shows are on sale now via Hail The Sun’s site HERE, and a full listing of dates can be found below.
Helmed by notable producer Kris Crummett, Divine Inner Tension, the latest album from Hail The Sun, finds the veteran rock band questioning everything about what it means to be here and to be alive, on both a micro level — where the importance of our existence is profound and paramount — and on a macro one — where our time on this planet is nothing but irrelevant and insignificant. Across its 12 stirring and intense songs, the album embarks on a journey that takes the listener back and forth between those two extremes as it tries to reconcile that paradox of living intentionally but relinquishing control by taking your hands off the wheel and letting the universe guide you.
“This is the first album we’ve written that didn’t come exclusively from a place of suffering or pain,” Melero admits. “Sadness, heartbreak and nihilism all inspire, but during the pandemic, there was a big shift, and this is more about retelling the story — retelling stories about everyday perceptions. Everything comes from within, so I thought that maybe I don’t have to suffer to feel inspired.”
Though that idea flows through the entirety of the record, it’s best captured by “The Story Writes Itself,” a song that both figuratively and literally sits at the center of the album. A typically impassioned blast of progressive post-hardcore, it frames the relationship between the universe and the self, and the tension and connection between them, that is so central to this album’s themes. Elsewhere, on “60-Minute Session Blocks,” the band grapples with the notion of identity, examining the way people change and fluctuate, often deliberately, over time. But then that’s followed immediately by “Maladapted,” which counters that idea completely, instead reverting to the notion of letting go of the self and instead trusting the universe. It’s a journey that began, for Melero, in 2020, when he was in a particularly bad place.
“I was going through a painful separation and really feeling low. Just worthless,” he says. “And mixed with that, the music industry was completely gone. So, I was searching for something more for myself; something bigger than myself. I was trying to find meaning in other things, and I got really into how powerful our thoughts are and the idea of attracting whatever it is we want into our existence. I felt an untapped potential that I always thought was there but could really start to feel it. And that was the catalyst to beginning this new phase and this album and that idea of just completely letting go.”
That, then, is the ultimate takeaway from Divine Inner Tension. It is possible to be both in and out of control at the same time. We just have to learn how. This album is the perfect guide for doing so, and as it ends with the urgently ominous “Under The Floor,” you’ll feel yourself finally letting go, finally understanding.
Hail The Sun will be making the following appearances this March and April. Dates below.
MARCH
08 — Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe *
09 — S. Louis, MO — Delmar Hall *
10 — Minneapolis, MN — Varsity Theatre *
12 — Lawrence, KS — Bottleneck *
13 — Denver, CO — Summit Music Hall *
14 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Complex *
15 — Boise, ID — Knitting Factory *
17 — Seattle, WA — The Crocodile *
18 — Portland, OR — Hawthorne Theater *
20 — Sacramento, CA — Ace of Spades *
21 — Berkeley, CA — UC Theatre *
22 — Los Angeles, CA — Echoplex *
23 — Anaheim, CA — House of Blues (Kill Iconic Festival)
24 — Phoenix, AZ — The Nile Theatre *
26 — Dallas, TX — Studio at the Factory *
27 — San Antonio, TX — Vibes Event Center *
28 — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall *
30 — Orlando, FL — House of Blues *
31 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade *
APRIL
02 — Charlotte, NC — Underground *
03 — Baltimore, MD — Baltimore SoundStage *
05 — New York, NY — Irving Plaza *
06 — Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club *
07 — Philadelphia, PA — Brooklyn Bowl *
09 — Montreal, QC — Theatre Fairmount *
10 — Toronto, ON — Danforth Music Hall *
11 — Cleveland, OH — The Roxy *
12 — Detroit, MI — Saint Andrew’s Hall *
13 — Chicago, IL — House of Blues *
JULY
28 — Manchester, UK – Radar Festival at the O2 Victoria Warehouse
* — co-headline with Intervals