AMBLARE

AMBLARE: drummer Bryan St. Pere (Hum) shines posthumously on self-titled album by post-hardcore powerhouse; "Starlight" music video streaming now

Amblare announces the April 5th release of its self-titled debut album. A masterpiece of radiant, emotive rock, it is also the final recording of Hum drummer Bryan St. Pere.

Pre-order the Amblare LP here: https://www.melodicvirtue.com/products/amblare-lp

Stream the official music video for the album's first single, "Starlight" (available February 16th on all digital platforms), here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FehHrXT4NZw

Based in Evansville, Indiana, a small city west of Louisville, Kentucky, Amblare was formed by principal songwriter and frontman Matt McGuyer, bassist Alex Wallwork, and St. Pere, revered around the globe for his decades of drumming with Hum.

McGuyer describes how the undeniable chemistry between the three musicians transformed a solo project into a full-fledged band: "I started playing drums at five years old. Guitar at ten years old. I played in many bands but I always wanted to write, record, and release a record, entirely myself. While working towards that goal, around 2016, I began posting what I had been working on. To my surprise, my posts caught Bryan St. Pere’s attention and he contacted me, asking if I wanted any help with what I was up to. We got together to hang out and we agreed that starting a band for these songs I had been writing was a fun idea and worthwhile quest. He mentioned that for bass, we needed a local guy we knew about and loved the playing of, mutually. That is Alex Wallwork. My first time ever seeing Alex, he was playing bass at a local music store and I fell in love with his playing. We fit together instantly. So, we officially became a band and Alex made up the name Amblare."

Recorded at Earth Analog Recording Studio by Matt Talbott (Hum) in 2019 and 2020, and mixed and mastered by Mario Quintero (Spotlights), Amblare's self-titled debut sees the trio bash out moody, soul-stirring post-hardcore songs, recommended highly for fans of Cave In and Failure.

The album's opener, "Starlight," is a two-minute burst of hope and longing that sets the scene for what is to unfold over the next seven tracks. Slamming, groove-heavy drumming lays the base for crunchy rhythm guitars, glistening leads, and mesmerizing vocals. "'Starlight' is about loving someone so deeply and intrinsically that telepathic energetic communication beyond the grave is possible," states McGuyer. "It’s a swaying ballroom in the cosmos."

St. Pere passed away in the summer of 2021, just as the Amblare album was nearing completion. Reporting on St. Pere in 2021, NME stated: "St. Pere joined Hum in 1990, a year after the band first formed. He performed on all five of the band’s albums, including their most well-known track ‘Stars’ from 1995’s ‘You’d Prefer An Astronaut.’ St. Pere’s drumming style has been described as a blend of heavy hardcore rhythms and the spaced-out shoegaze that flowed throughout Hum’s catalogue. St. Pere was also a member of the Indiana-based band Amblare."

"We are honoring Bryan's wishes to press the Amblare album and release it," says McGuyer. The LP will be released via Melodic Virtue, the Evansville-based label and publishing house run by designer Aaron Tanner, whose catalog includes beautiful, authorized coffee table books on such artists as The Residents, Ministry, and Pixies. 

Plans are in motion for live shows in 2024 with an as-yet-unnamed drummer filling St. Pere's shoes. McGuyer and Wallwork meanwhile lend their talents to numerous other projects; McGuyer is the newest member of long-running indie rock favorites Mock Orange and Wallwork plays with trad metallers Faerie Ring, to name two.

Tracklist:
1) Starlight
2) Iridesce
3) Underest
4) Flyin
5) The Splits
6) Mine’d
7) Undivided
8) Weakend

Lineup:
Matt McGuyer - vocals, guitar
Alex Wallwork - vocals, bass
Bryan St. Pere - drums, percussion

Album art by Aaron Tanner

Band photos by Heath Metzger