Involuntary Haze – Blackwater Holylight Release Second Single From Suicide Squeeze Records LP

Blackwater Holylight will release their fourth album Not Here Not Gone through Suicide Squeeze Records on January 30th, 2026. The Los Angeles-based trio have shared “Involuntary Haze” as the second single from the record, following “Heavy, Why?” The track moves between distorted guitar work and synthesizer layers, with lead guitarist Mikayla Mayhew describing it as addressing “empty promises” and self-deception in relationships where emotional availability was never genuine.

Title: Not Here Not Gone
Artist: Blackwater Holylight
Release Date: 2026-01-30
Genres: Garage Rock, Indie Rock
Label: Suicide Squeeze Records

The band relocated from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles three years ago. Sunny Faris (vocals, guitar, bass), Mikayla Mayhew (lead guitar), Eliese Dorsay (drums), and Sarah McKenna (synthesizers) spent the intervening period working on material for Not Here Not Gone, with some tracks in development across the full three-year span. The album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in El Paso, Texas with producer Sonny DiPerri, who has worked with Narrow Head, DIIV, and Emma Ruth Rundle.

The record includes “Giraffe,” an instrumental track featuring a drum pattern from David Andrew Sitek of TV on the Radio. “Poppyfields,” the closing track, was written days before recording began and references a friend’s experience of losing their home in a Los Angeles wildfire. The album’s title refers to states of presence and absence, both geographical and emotional. Not Here Not Gone will be available as a limited edition deluxe LP, standard LP, and CD.

Blackwater Holylight formed in Portland, Oregon in 2016. Their self-titled debut appeared on Riding Easy Records in 2018, followed by Veils of Winter (2019) and Silence/Motion (2021), both released through RidingEasy. The band’s lineup has remained consistent since their second album, with Allison “Sunny” Faris handling vocals and alternating between guitar and bass, Mikayla Mayhew on lead guitar, Sarah McKenna on synthesizers, and Eliese Dorsay on drums. Their work combines elements of doom metal, shoegaze, and psychedelic rock, with McKenna’s synthesizer work providing textural contrast to the band’s guitar-heavy arrangements.

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