2021 was a hell of a year for us all, but in addition to the general baseline pandemic dread, Beltlowda‘s Mat Alano-Martin spent his year wrestling with the emotional fallout of watching his mother die a slow, painful death and the suicides of a former lover and a former musical collaborator. “Yes, in a lot of ways The Days…is an album about death, but it is also an album about the obligations of the living,” says Alano-Martin. “To be of service, to take care of one another, both in our personal day-to-day lives and also as a society as a whole.” The themes of grief and unity wind throughout the album to paint a portrait of the urgency of life and the importance of community.
Production on the album was helmed by the band’s bassist JD Short, weaving together songs that run a gamut of post punk styles. From driving midwest emo (“Red Sky Ash” – featuring William Elliott Whitmore and “Cairril’s Gone”) to dance punk (“Privilege”), grunge (“Take Care” and “One by One”), angular math rock (“A Red Circle” and “In a Field, Far” – featuring poet Ann V. DeVilbiss) and the surprisingly atmospheric album closer “All Lovers.” “All of these songs have their own character,” Short says. “The unifying thread was the three of us playing these songs, and that unique energy is evident throughout.”
The Days That Are Given And The Ways We Live Them also sees drummer Dagan Thogerson join the fold. Known for his work as a member of Murder by Death, Thogerson helped push Alano-Martin and Short’s songs into new territories, both bolder and more nuanaced. “Making this record has been a great way to stay connected to my old friend Mat and make a new friend in JD,” Thogerson reflected. “These songs are personal and prescient and really good. I am honored that they trusted me to jump in and add my voice.”
The album is released on January 7th, 2022, via the band’s Bandcamp page: https://beltalowda.bandcamp.com/. Pre-orders are now live and enable instant access to the opening track, “Red Sky Ash” featuring William Elliott Whitmore. As is the band’s tradition, 50% of all sales will be donated to a social justice cause. With their previous releases they have raised thousands of dollars for organizations such as Black Lives Matter, The Bail Project, The Indian Law Resource Center and the Trans Women of Color Collective. Profits from The Days That Are Given And The Ways We Live Them will be donated to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
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