New music review with singles from Main Era and TRAITRS
- Julia Mason aka The Decibel Decoder
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her new music review with singles from Main Era Double Dragon and TRAITRS I Was Ill, You Were Wrong
Artist: Main Era
Track: Double Dragon
Boston-based Main Era supported Maruja when they played in the city in September. Comprising lead vocalist and guitarist Garrett Greaves, lead guitarist Willie Swift, bassist Jack Halberian and Berklee College of Music student and drummer Maeve Malloy, the band now release their new single Double Dragon. The band share that the single "might represent the cognitive dissonance that arises when trying to make sense of a world full of dialectics, simultaneously opposing truths required by the laws of nature and the human condition."
Double Dragon is taken from their forthcoming album Four of Wands which is set for release in January 2026 via Interluxe Distribution. Thematically the album is trying to make sense of the times we live in. And recognising that the broader context within which we experience the world, through the lens of the human experience, means we can only interpret reality subjectively.
In some ways, the times we live in are unprecedented. In other ways, the issues and struggles we face are nothing new, reflecting the circular nature of time. Double Dragon is almost like a sound collage, reflecting the wall of overwhelming noise back into the culture that created it, a distorted reflection that can't help but seek patterns and draw throughlines and themes, reflecting the human compulsion to rationalise the absurd.
Double Dragon and Four of Wands were recorded and produced between December 2024 and July 2025 by the at their band house and rehearsal space. Main Era expand: "In many ways the album serves as a sonic artifact of our life last year; we had all decided to move into a house together in Allston, MA, started touring more seriously, and were getting exposed to more progressive and avant garde musical projects both in Boston and on the road. Bands like Walk me Home (Bos/MTL), The Fringe (Free Jazz group from BOS), Bloodsports (NYC), Wiring (NYC), Microgoblet (PHL), Boyscoutmarie (NYC) and many many others totally blew our minds, and taught us that you can really do whatever you want with music – there are no rules."
* * *
Artist: TRAITRS
Track: I Was Ill, You Were Wrong
Toronto coldwave duo TRAITRS release with their new single I Was Ill, You Were Wrong. The track arrives alongside the announcement of their highly anticipated fourth album POSSESSOR, set for release on 13 March 2026.
A melancholic meditation wrapped in gothic electronics, I Was Ill, You Were Wrong finds TRAITRS exploring their most vulnerable terrain yet. Echoing synths create a haunting foundation as guitars surge forward, while brooding vocals howl through the darkness like spectres, channeling the emotional weight of The Cure's most introspective moments. The track confronts humanity's most universal truth: our collective denial of mortality. Exploring how we construct purpose and seek distractions to navigate the daily existence of living, the song examines the psychological defense mechanisms we employ to avoid confronting death - the one thing that unites us all. It's about the fear of being alone, the illusion of "tomorrow," and how a single moment can shatter our carefully maintained bubbles of denial.
"I felt that song connected me to everything and everyone, it's the one thing we all share and have in common," explains vocalist and guitarist Shawn Tucker. "It's also a wake up call to live the life you want to live, we only have one chance at this so go dance in the rain."
Written during a period when both Sean Patrick Nolan (synth and sequencing) and Shawn Tucker (guitar and vocals) were navigating profound life changes and depression, the album POSSESSOR confronts mortality, alienation, and the temporary nature of existence head-on. The album asks difficult questions about what anything means when we're gone, exploring the sensation of watching everything die and wondering if any of it matters. It's an album about grief, loneliness, and our intimate, untimely demise: themes that felt impossibly urgent for a duo who concluded they had nothing left to prove to anyone, making the creation of this record a form of therapy and closure.
"There's a lot of anger, beauty and sadness on the album," TRAITRS reflects. "I want to feel that someone is holding you when you're cold, sad and alone in the dark. The soundtrack to a gloomy filled sorrowed love affair. It's unconditional, unflinching, and unapologetic."
Drawing influence from The Smiths, The Cure, Interpol, and lesser-known post-punk gems like Asylum Party and The Opposition, TRAITRS continue to carry the torch for emotionally devastating yet sonically powerful alternative music. With their cinematic blend of atmospheric soundscapes, anthemic choruses, and uncompromising emotional honesty, Sean Patrick Nolan and Shawn Tucker have evolved from bedroom artists selling cassette tapes to accumulating millions of streams worldwide and performing hundreds of shows across multiple continents. POSSESSOR stands as their most ambitious statement yet: an album that feels like our planet slowly losing air as we all suffocate without noticing.
In celebration of the album release, TRAITRS will embark on an extensive tour spanning Europe, the UK, and USA, including a London date at the 229 Club on 22 March 2026.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and never miss out on gig info and our latest deals
Comments