Blackwater Holylight w/ Glassing
Schedule
Sun, 22 Feb, 2026 at 08:00 pm to Mon, 23 Feb, 2026 at 12:00 am
UTC-05:00Location
10 Buxton Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina 28801, United States | Asheville, NC
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Eulogy Presents: Blackwater Holylight w/ GlassingSun, Feb 22nd, 2025
Eulogy - 10 Buxton Ave. Asheville, NC 28801
Doors 7PM || Show 8PM
**Blackwater Holylight**
When the women of Blackwater Holylight left their hometown of Portland OR three
years ago, their mission was to escape the gloom of the Pacific Northwest and the
placating comfort of familiarity. Aiming for the sunnier climes of LA, the band found
themselves not only in a warmer environment, but in a blank slate landscape—one
without jobs, longtime friend groups, and the easy retreat of old habits. And it was here,
unencumbered by the contentment of security, that Blackwater Holylight began diligently
working on their fourth full-length album, Not Here Not Gone.
As with their previous work, Not Here Not Gone explores the duality of light and dark—
menacing riffs provide the bedrock to beguiling melodies; dense walls of shoegaze
guitars pair with lighter-than-air synths; and heavy subject matter is delivered by siren
song vocals. Across their work, the listener gets a sense of empowerment at one turn,
vulnerability the next. As drummer Eliese Dorsay describes it, “some songs we’re the
predator, and some songs we’re the prey.” The juxtaposition of confidence and
uncertainty is never in as such stark relief as when one makes a life changing decision,
which may explain how the band’s relocation intensified their study in contrasts to
intoxicating new heights on Not Here Not Gone.
The title is the perfect description of the band’s adjustment. “It’s one foot in, one foot
out,” vocalist and guitarist/bassist Sunny Faris explains. “It’s about how you can lose
people in your life but still have their presence and energy around you.” And indeed,
listening to Not Here Not Gone, you get the distinct sense that Blackwater Holylight
dragged some of the Northwest gloom down into Southern California. The opening
chords of “How Will You Feel” are drenched in the muddy weight of perpetually overcast
skies. But a Jacob’s Ladder of light shines through the scuzzy guitars in the form of
Faris’ lilting vocals and Sarah McKenna’s blissed-out ambient synth work, guiding the
listener out of the mire and into the garden.
Even in their heaviest moments, like the sludgy psychedelia of “Bodies” and “Spades,”
Blackwater Holylight masterfully sculpt the thunder and grime into something that feels
transcendental. Lead single “Heavy, Why?” is perhaps the apex of the band’s masterful
duality and an appropriately titled examination of the ensemble’s methods. Mikayla
Mayhew’s low, dirge-like riff and Dorsay’s propulsive drums could easily find a home in
the catalog of an amp-worshipping Roadburn act, but Faris’ fragile vocals transform the
composition into a question, a pointed and probing examination that uses beauty and
grace to offset the threatening instrumentation.
In one of the biggest stylistic shifts of the album, the instrumental track “Giraffe” churns
out a hallucinatory blend of woozy keyboards and pulsating bass over a beat provided
by David Andrew Sitek (TV on the Radio, Run the Jewels, Solange). The song serves
as a dividing line of sorts, as Not Here Not Gone shifts gears into even more nuanced
territories. The band asserts that the primary change to their music has been the
addition of time. On previous albums, youthful urgency yielded material that felt
immediate and direct. But on Not Here Not Gone, Blackwater Holylight deliberately
slowed their creative pace. “If there were to be a theme to the album, it would be
patience,” says Faris. “Some of these songs we’ve been working on for three years, just
giving the songs time to breath and develop while we were exploring a new place and
new lives.” It’s especially evident on the latter half of the album, where tracks like “Void
to Be,” “Fade,” and “Mourning After” deliberately eschew the big riff in favor of fever
dream melodies and layered instrumentation. But forever savoring the paradox, the
album’s final track was composed just days before the band entered the studio.
“Poppyfields” is a harrowing account of a friend losing their home in an LA wildfire, set
against a backdrop of blast beats, double kick drum, symphonic synths, and black
metal-inspired guitars. In what feels like a counterweight to the album’s general tilt
towards less tormented territories, “Poppyfields” serves as a stark reminder that no
paradise is permanent, and everything will be reborn through ashes.
Not Here Not Gone was recorded at Sonic Ranch outside of El Paso TX by Sonny
Diperri (Narrow Head, DIIV, Emma Ruth Rundle), allowing the band to once again step
outside of their comfort zone and isolate themselves in a place where they could focus
exclusively on their art. The result is the crown jewel of Blackwater Holylight’s catalog—
a rich and immersive study in tonal chiaroscuro, where light finds its way out of the
shadows. Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to release Blackwater Holylight’s Not Here
Not Gone to the world on Limited Edition Deluxe LP, standard LP, and CD on January
30, 2026.
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Where is it happening?
10 Buxton Avenue, Asheville, North Carolina 28801, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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