Description
NEW MISERABLE EXPERIENCE are a Philadelphia-rooted collective that reshapes heavy-music rigour into expansive, melody-forward songs through alternative synth-rock. What started as a file-trading collaboration between vocalist/bassist David Grossman (ex- ROSETTA) and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Mahesh Kost expanded into a full band that now includes ROSETTA drummer Bruce “B.J.” McMurtrie Jr., technical-metal bassist Brett Bamberger (REVOCATION), and guitarist Brody Uttley (RIVERS OF NIHIL). The group forgoes technical exhibitionism in favour of mood and melody, composing introspective songs designed to reward close listening.
Across the twelve tightly arranged tracks of 3rd album “Gild The Lily”, the band pares its palette to essential elements: clear melodies, precise dynamics, and richly textured production. The album trades overt bombast for craft, building emotional weight through small gestures and patient arrangements rather than moments of spectacle.
“We started saying ‘infinite sadness’ as a bit of a catch phrase with the last album. I think that sums up the vibe of the album and project overall. We are very much in the ‘sadboi’ world with Jeff Buckley, Puma Blue, Radiohead, Deftones, The Black Queen”, says Grossman.
Sonically, ‘Gild the Lily’ combines alternative synth rock with chorus-tinted guitars, and a rhythm section that alternates between taut propulsion and roomy, reverb-soaked space. The arrangements both electronic and instrumental negotiates smooth and slick danceability alongside sinister edges.
It is notable that there no real drums or percussion on the album. ”Everything is programmed or sampled”, explains Grossman. “I think that artists like The Black Queen, Depeche Mode, Telefon Telaviv, Bjork and Massive Attack have always been brilliant at using the percussion as a texture in itself. These are definitely things we are thinking about with our own material.”
Bass-lines provide melodic counterpoint as often as foundational support, and vocals are treated with restraint — dry enough to convey intimacy, but placed within atmospheric treatments that allow the words to hover. Lyric is delivered with a delicate, sombre intensity. “Endure loneliness with Grace, Build walls to hide the disgrace, I’m afraid of being of afraid” (In the House of Denial)
Thematically, the album examines the tension between surface and substance. The title, ‘Gild the Lily’, gestures at the impulse to embellish what is already whole, to lacquer over flaws until the original beauty becomes obscured.
“The songs cover a range of topics but the idea of “Gild the Lily” is trying to improve what is already beautiful or excellent. I took that as generally being a negative thing. Humanity messes with things that are already excellent, beautiful, perfect, etc and we ruin them. The song ‘Perfect Things’ touches on this topic the most” , Grossman elaborates.
Songs in the record’s sequence consider different kinds of pain and hypocrisy — emotional varnish, social facades, and the turmoil that plagues our individual and collective experience. Rather than dramatize trauma or spectacle, the album focuses on a sophisticated expression of these cruelties.
However, as well as the personal, there is also the undeniable physical conflicts that haunt the realms of consciousness, the overwhelming futility of witnessing horror and injustice.
“’Payback from God’ is a reaction to reading the book ‘One day, everyone will have always been against this’, explains Grossman. The book is actually about what’s happening in Palestine as well as the song. ‘Ordinary People’ and ‘Running the Fear of it Dry’ are the two songs that are a reaction to rich and powerful men trying to convince us that they are ordinary people and that empathy is a toxic trait.”
Each member of New Miserable Experience contributes a distinctive sonic fingerprint. The vocals act as the emotional centre, delivering lines that feel confessional and immediate; synths and guitars are constructed with shimmering arpeggios and decisive motifs; percussion and production choices blend groove and tension within electronic nuance; and bass work often functions as a countermelody, lifting refrains and anchoring transitions. Together the five players emphasise careful craft over spectacle, shaping songs that reward patient listening.
True to the project’s collaboration of post-rock giants, ‘Gild the Lily’ also features Eric Nyffler (Jenny Haniver) on bass on the tracks ‘Infinite Sadness’ and ‘Running the fear of it Dry’, as well as Chris Alfano (East of the Wall and The Postman Syndrome) playing bass on ‘The Devil We Know’ and ‘Perfect Things’. There is also the contribution to samples and electronics on ‘Yours to Bury’ created by Mike Armine (Rosetta). And once more Andrew Schneider (Julie Christmas, Ken Mode, Blue Man Group, Cave In, Unsane) mixed the record. “I believe that Andrew is one of the best in the world at engineering and mixing. He always elevates the songs to another level.” comments Grossman.
‘Gild the Lily’ feels seeded from compact ideas and fully realised emotions, layered by hand and refined through repeated listening until arrangements felt inevitable. The record has a lived-in quality, drenched in internal depth, yet accessible and relatable.
“I honestly wanted really badly to write some positive songs for this album, but it felt insincere when I did. I don’t think that I’m overly sad or depressed, but I seem to be drawn to sad and angry music. Not only from a creative perspective but also with my own listening tastes.” (David Grossman)
The band’s aesthetic is one of deliberate economy: textures are chosen to serve mood and narrative rather than technical exhibitionism, and arrangements reveal their depth across repeated listens. Slick, sorrowful and cinematic in atmosphere, ‘Gild the Lily’ is an eclectic collection that can not only groove in vibe and inspire movement, but also pierce to the nerve in ethereal lamentation.
FOR FANS OF
Crosses * Black Queen * Ulver * Vowws * Rosetta * Revocation * Rivers of Nihil
