New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Salt Lake City, Utah post-hardcore duo, Wearing Thin have released their new single, "Hidden In The Framework". The song is the portrayal of vocalist, Tylor Blackburn's conversation with God and the world around him. During that time, he had gotten to a point where he was angry at the world and was reluctant to embrace his faith. The trying situation ended up being a wake-up call for him to realize he had to make some changes to live a happier life. Blackburn says "It's the culmination of my search for truth and probably does the best job of capturing where I was mentally at the time of writing and even recording the record.
Aaron (Gillespie) actually had to help me finish writing some of the lyrics because I was still processing everything around me".
In addition to releasing the song, Wearing Thin announced that their debut full-length album, More Than Just a Frame will be released on July 13th via Tragic Hero Records. The band had a chance to work with some absolutely incredible names in the industry during the recording process. The album was produced and engineered by
Aaron Gillespie (Underoath/The Almost) and Andrew Goldring and mastered by Nathan Hussey (All Get Out). After working long and hard on this album, Wearing Thin is excited to share it with the world.
About Wearing Thin:
Sometimes, it's healthier to look at the glass as half empty. Believing in more than what's right in front of you can inspire hope and act as the catalyst for change; this is the idea behind Salt Lake City band, Wearing Thin. Through poetic lyrics and emotional performances, the band embodies the misery of living in a vicious world, while simultaneously exploring humanity's potential to either reconcile or self destruct. Battles fought internally or externally lead to new perspectives that can make us question everything. Do the changes we implement actually improve our lives, or just make us feel better about ourselves as we dig deeper and deeper graves to comfortably rot in? These themes are most evident on their latest release, More Than Just A Frame.
Inspired by hardcore, emo, and ambient music like post-rock, Wearing Thin utilize heavy guitar progressions with plenty of open strings left ringing that create dense and moody chords, passionate vocals that miraculously remain intelligible as frontman, Tylor Blackburn screams his throat raw, and drums acting as the anchor that keeps the tracks from tearing themselves to pieces. On softer cuts such as the opening track "
Demons", the band really strips it back to the studs where solo acoustic guitar and vocals provide haunting contrast to the album's turmoil. The band shed their DIY production to work with Underoath's
Aaron Gillespie who makes the songs snap with a neat, but certainly not sterile mix. Being their first solo LP, the group wanted to put out the best album possible.
The music may be heavy, but the lyrical content on More Than Just A Frame is absolutely crushing. Whether he touches upon the struggles of being in a relationship or his personal battle with muscular dystrophy, Tylor makes his pain your pain without revealing exactly what he's talking about. This approach allows listeners to interpret their own meanings which helps more people connect with the words and collectively empathize; "It's easier to be sad with someone than to here it's just going to be 'ok'. Being sad is better than feeling nothing" he says. The culmination of his existential frustration lies on the lead single for the album, "Anything At All". On this track, Tylor wrestles with his faults and his faith, asking "Do I want to be redeemed Or is is sympathy I seek". He describes the song as "a battle with my mind" where he wants to be forgiven, but fears that seeking it out makes him selfish and unworthy.
Ultimately though, More Than Just A Frame is about hope. Just because the glass is half empty doesn't mean it can't be refilled. Recognizing your own faults is to acknowledge that you're just human, and to Wearing Thin, that means more than just being an individual; it means you have a conscience. Where does that come from? Nobody has a definitive answer, and it's ok not knowing what lies beyond ourselves, but that doesn't mean it isn't frustrating. To Wearing Thin, believing that one day the cup will runneth over is better than nothing.
