Hether Fortune, leader of the Oakland-based postpunk band Wax Idols, used to play in White Lung. But that really gives no indication of how Wax Idols sound. Where White Lung’s sound is a feral, chaotic slash of energy, Wax Idols make music that’s slower, thicker, and more atmospheric. There’s something grand and gothic about the way their guitars wrap themselves around Fortune’s voice. It’s a heavy, emotional sound.

Next month, Wax Idols will self-release their new album Happy Ending. We’ve already posted their first single “Scream” and their smart, self-aware “Mausoleum” video. And now they’ve also shared the tangled, lovely “Crashing.”

There’s a whole lot of early Cure in “Crashing,” the rare song that manages to sound at once lush and splintered. It’s a dreamy-but-intense song about being ready to leave the world behind, to find some new place in the universe. “Don’t cry,” Fortune reassures, “you know I always loved the sea,” and it almost sounds like she’s getting ready to go live underwater. Listen to it below.

Happy Ending is out 5/16 on the band’s own Etruscan Gold label. Full disclosure: Stereogum friend and former staffer Brandon Stosuy now manages Wax Idols.