Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Gift — the project led by TJ Freda and comprising Jessica Gurewitz (synths/vocals/guitar), Kallan Campbell (bass), Justin Hrabovsky (synths/guitar), and Gabe Camarano (drums)—release “Every Step,” the second single/video from their new album, “Frenzy For The Thrill”, out January 15th, 2027, on Captured Tracks. Following lead single/video, “Hand To The Flame,” “Every Step” finds a frazzled mind clearing from the haze. Evening out the album’s feverish state, the song offers flickers of clarity and perspective.
Freda comments, “Everything comes down to perspective. There’s so much happening in the world that matters more than the small things we let upset us. But when those small things feel just as big, guilt comes along with them, and it’s easy to feel disillusioned with yourself for not feeling the way you think you should. Perspective follows every step, whether you lean toward hope or toward heaviness. Beauty lives in the broken places, and something broken lives in every beautiful thing.”
Watch the Video for “Every Step”
Gift began in earnest during the pandemic, with Freda holed up in Brooklyn building the lush layers of what would become the band’s 2022 debut Momentary Presence. Momentary Presence and its 2024 successor Illuminator blended various strains of psychedelic music — krautrock, new wave, electronic, shoegaze — while cataloguing Freda’s battles with panic attacks, most often seeking to counter anxiety with transcendence. Yet in the time before “Frenzy For The Thrill”, Freda found that particular metaphorical drug was no longer working. He gravitated towards grittier, angstier inspirations like ‘90s alt-rock, grunge, and brasher iterations of electronic music. Combined with the band having become a unit honed by rigorous touring, Freda wanted to create something more visceral and collaborative. The sound of “Frenzy For The Thrill” became one of five musicians diving into the madness together.
Willfully seeking contrast and contradiction across “Frenzy For The Thrill”, Freda made Gift‘s most band-oriented album yet, but also sought out electronic producer Teddy Mars, the mastermind behind Samples From Mars. With he and Freda sharing production duties, Gift adopted the ethos and structure of dance music, but with the rest of the band contributing more than ever before. Harnessing the immediate energy Gift had cultivated onstage while also incorporating more of their individual instincts in arrangement and songwriting, “Frenzy For The Thrill” still bears the far-seeing melodies and synth textures of Gift‘s past now anchored by the band’s most muscular performances yet.
There are lessons learned by the end of “Frenzy For The Thrill”, a sort of self-acceptance on the other side of the album’s violence. A healthier, more balanced life after staring into the void. “We’re always looking for resolutions, but life isn’t like that,” Freda concludes. “Frenzy For The Thrill is about still being in love with the chase knowing we might not find answers on the other side. This is the sound of us crashing headlong into the unknown.”
PRE-ORDER/ PRE-SAVE “FRENZY FOR THE THRILL” HERE!
“Frenzy For The Thrill” Tracklist
1. See The Heavens
2. Hand To The Flame
3. The Fly
4. Every Step
5. Instant Rush
6. Come Back Down
7. Higher Than The Knife
8. I Wanna Be A Toy
9. I Wish I Met You In Another Life
10. Into Oblivion
11. Demon Inside
