Widow’s Weeds by Silversun Pickups

Widow's Weeds, Silversun Pickups' fifth album, landed on June 7, 2019 on New Machine Recordings, a label the band runs themselves, and it marked their first time working with Butch Vig. Bassist Nikki Monninger credited Vig with paying close attention to each of the four of them and keeping the room relaxed, and you can hear a band playing as one body rather than a set of parts.

Brian Aubert made it from a dark place, getting sober during a break in the sessions, and the record carries that weight. He has called it mournful but not sad, more about change than sorrow, and that's how it plays: guitars swell and roar, the rhythm section pushes hard, and Aubert's voice slides from fragile to fierce, nowhere more than on "Don't Know Yet". "It Doesn't Matter Why" was the first taste, back in April.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.