BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT RELEASE NEW TRACK ‘HEAVY, WHY?’
Blackwater Holylight have carved out a thunderous niche in Los Angeles’ underground since relocating from Portland, Oregon. Today, the hard rock trio announce their fourth album, Not Here Not Gone, out January 30, 2026 via Suicide Squeeze Records. Shaped by their move south, the record refines their fusion of ethereal doom and shoegaze—nowhere more powerfully than on lead single “Heavy, Why?” where moody riffs rise toward an electric, transcendent climax.
Singer Sunny Faris explains: “‘Heavy, Why?’ is lyrically light and instrumentally heavy—a cryptic reflection on disembodiment, asking simply: why is it so agonizing to be turned away from the self?”
Three years ago, the women of Blackwater Holylight left Portland seeking escape from the Pacific Northwest’s gloom and the comfort of routine. In Los Angeles, stripped of jobs, friends, and familiarity, they began crafting Not Here Not Gone—a record born of risk and reinvention.
True to their style, the album balances menace and grace: massive riffs and shoegaze haze meet airy synths and haunting vocals. “Some songs we’re the predator, and some we’re the prey,” drummer Eliese Dorsay says. The band’s relocation sharpened that tension, transforming contrast into catharsis on Not Here Not Gone.
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