Sludgy shoegazers Cloakroom have shared their first new music since 2022’s Dissolution Wave, which was our Album Of The Week. In their label debut for Closed Casket Activities, Cloakroom are back with the upbeat and jangly “Unbelonging.” It’s certainly a vibe shift, but a great-sounding one.

“'[Unbelonging’ is] a pop song wielding 140 bpm of optimism that can fall apart and dishearten just as quickly as it captivates – Cloakroom meets Psychedelic Furs,” the band says in a statement.

There’s an accompanying video, too, which was shot over the course of the band’s European tour. Cloakroom add: “Similar to a Crowelian ceremonial dagger, all the lyrics to the new record were crafted under the cover of darkness, predominantly in a moving vehicle; predominantly leaving any number of border town bars. That’s why we chose to do a ‘found footage’ kind of delivery method for the video.”

A press release promises that Cloakroom’s forthcoming studio album will be out next year on Closed Casket. It was all recorded in December 2023 with engineer Zac Montez at Electrical Audio in Chicago and Rec Room Recording in Des Plaines, Illinois.

Listen to and watch “Unbelonging” below.

TOUR DATES:
11/02 – Nashville,TN @ The Blue Room at Third Man Records
11/03 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
11/04 – Charleston, SC @ The Music Farm
11/05 – Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
11/06 – Orlando, FL @ The Abbey
11/07 – Savannah, GA @ Graveface
11/08 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
11/09 – Richmond, VA @ The Canal Club (Upstairs)
11/10 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
11/11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/13 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
11/14 – Toronto, ON @- The Opera House
11/15 – Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre
11/16 – Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Fairmount
11/17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
11/19 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
11/20 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
11/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Lyric at Skyway Theatre
11/22 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s
11/23 – Denver, CO @ Summit
11/24 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
11/25 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club Basement
11/26 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
11/27 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
11/29 – Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre
11/30 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
12/01 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
12/02 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile Theater
12/03 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister
12/04 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory
12/05 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall
12/06 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
12/07 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
12/08 – Cleveland, OH @ The Roxy at Mahall’s