ANCHR's Artist of the Week: The Murder Capital

Photo by James Kelly

This week’s artist of the week goes to The Murder Capital.

Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, The Murder Capital consists of members James McGovern, Damien Tuit, Cathal Roper, Gabriel Paschal Blake, and Diarmuid Brennan. The group has a sound that tiptoes the lines between experimental rock, punk and post-punk— if you’re a fan of Shame, Dry Cleaning or Fontaines D.C., then they should definitely be on your radar as well.

The Murder Capital first started playing together back in 2017, but their first recorded release came in 2019 with singles like “Feeling Fades” and “Green & Blue,” which led up to their debut album entitled When I Have Fears. The band actually released this album on their own label called Human Season Records. Most recently, the band put out their sophomore album entitled Gigi’s Recovery, which just dropped in January of this year. The album begins with an atmospheric, slow-burn of a track called “Existence” that starts off with an eerie instrumental as vocalist James McGovern slowly recites the lyrics “Existence fading.” Eventually the introductory track swells into a crescendo that runs right into track 2, “Crying,” which features similar atmospheric, electronic elements that blend into more traditional guitar riffs. This push-and-pull pattern continues throughout the album’s twelve tracks, where certain moments soar to an explosion before being met with a more serene plateau on the other side. The record’s title track really exemplifies this motif, with another gradual build-up that ebbs and flows throughout the course of the song.

In support of Gigi’s Recovery, The Murder Capital is currently on the road in North America, including a stop in Chicago at Lincoln Hall on April 3rd. See all of their tour dates here, and tune into the music video for their single “Return My Head” below.

ANCHR's Artist of the Week: Inner Wave

This week’s Artist of the Week goes to Inner Wave.

Photo courtesy of Red Light Management

Blending a mix of psychedelia, funk, and surf rock, Inner Wave first started making music over a decade ago with founding members Pablo Sotelo on guitar and vocals, Elijah Trujillo on guitar, and Jean Pierre Narvaez on bass and vocals. In more recent years, the band has expanded to a five-piece group to include Drummer Luis Portillo and Jose Cruz on keyboards.

Inner Wave is based in Los Angeles, which is fitting because the majority of their music evokes cheerful moods and conjures up sunny, laidback vibes. To date, Inner Wave has released four studio albums, starting with III in 2013 and leading to the most recent record, Apoptosis, which was released in September 2021. Prior to the release of Apoptosis, Inner Wave faced many of the struggles and dark times that many musicians faced as the pandemic hit— they had tours canceled and a cloud of uncertainty looming over their next moves. Ultimately, the band persevered and came out of the lowest part of the pandemic in a stronger position. Sotelo says that they reverted back to being very hands on, like they were for the first 11 years of being a band. “Now I feel very confident: we’re like a musical tank,” he says.

The fourth album was recorded over two weeks in which Inner Wave quarantined at the studio True Sound, where Cruz also lived at the time. “Apoptosis is a biological term for the death of cells, which occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism’s growth or development. Basically, it’s when your body lets certain cells die so that new healthy cells can grow,” Sotelo explains. “It was indicative of what we had just gone through this whole year, with losing a member, losing management, losing a tour, shows, losing friends, losing almost everything. And then starting from the ground up.”

It’s been over a year now since that album’s release, but Inner Wave is currently on tour with Foals, and I’m very much looking forward to hearing some of those songs live. If you’re in Chicago, you can catch them at The Vic on December 2nd and 3rd, or view the rest of their tour dates here.