Underøath will release their ninth studio album, Voyeurist, in January, and they’re returning in some style with dramatic new choir-enhanced single Hallelujah.
Voyeurist was self-produced by the band at guitarist Tim McTague’s own Feral Sound studio, located in an old Tampa church, with assistance from engineer JJ Revell. The sextet offered a first taste of the album in the form of lead-off single Damn Excuses last month.
Speaking of the new single, Tim McTague says, “Hallelujah was one of those songs that kind of just came out. We had a rough outline in a day or so, and then we started building around it. When Aaron [Gillespie], had the choir idea, which is almost a nod to [2004 single] It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door in a way, we wanted to make it really dark sounding.”
“We ended up getting a handful of our homies and lady friends to come in and recorded the choir downstairs as a group. The song is about wrestling with everything - faith, life and so on. It’s interesting wrestling with these intense subjects while sitting in a church, and having their support to be honest and transparent was amazing.”
“I think the song is one of the more powerful songs on the album for a myriad of reasons, but sharing a night of beers and stories with a handful of the people you love, unpacking a ton of heady concepts and recording a choir really put an exclamation point on the song for me. It’s dark, beautiful, haunting and heavy all at the same time. That’s what Underøath does best in my opinion.”
“I’ve always wanted to record our own album," adds McTague. "I think we just needed to get into a headspace personally that would allow criticism and critique to land in a productive and constructive way. I think in the past, studio sessions were so tense, and we felt like if we weren’t at war at times with each other, or a song, then it wouldn’t be good. Growing out of that into a mutual respect for each other and the craft allowed us to be on the same team, and trust each other to push when the songs needed it.”
The album will be released via Fearless Records on January 14.
