Aurora draws on 80s post-punk, darkwave, and speculative fiction
Lathe of Heaven will release their second full-length album Aurora on 29 August 2025 via Sacred Bones Records. The title-track is available now and arrives with a video directed by Devan Davies.
Artist: Lathe of Heaven
Release Date: 2025-08-29
Genres: Darkwave, New Wave, Post-punk, Synth Pop
Label: Sacred Bones Records
Description: Lathe of Heaven release second album Aurora via Sacred Bones on 29 August, sharing the title-track and video by Devan Davies.
The Brooklyn-based group recorded the album with Ben Greenberg at Circular Ruin. Brad Boatright handled mastering. The record follows Bound by Naked Skies (2023), and draws from mid-80s British and Finnish post-punk, incorporating references to underground pop, synth-driven new wave, and early art-rock without adhering to any specific revivalist framework.
The title track, “Aurora,” is built around rigid drums and sharpened melodic progressions. The lyrics are loosely inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s short story If I Forget Thee, O Earth… but avoid direct narrative adaptation. Instead, the song moves toward a form of romantic fatalism, situated within a speculative setting. The video extends these ideas using analog interference and surveillance motifs. Davies describes the production as being shaped by constraints: “There was no budget nor time for replicating a Hollywood sci-fi classic,” referencing visual cues from Marker’s La Jetée, THX-1138, and early Tarkovsky.
Several tracks on Aurora adopt a short story format, referencing writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler, Peter Watts, and Greg Egan. “Exodus” references the Theseus Paradox and ends with the quote: “Begin again in blameless flesh.” “Oblivion” references semantic saturation. “Matrix of Control” and “Automation Bias” center on systemic design and algorithmic power structures. “Portrait of a Scorched-Earth” is described by the band as their least abstract text, addressing contemporary warfare and displacement, citing the situation in Gaza.
The album includes ten tracks. Subjects addressed range from neurological feedback and emotional recursion (“Catatonia”) to artificial memory construction (“Just Beyond the Reach of Light”) and quantum metaphysics (“Infinity’s Kiss”). The closing piece “Rorschach,” named after the alien ship in Peter Watts’ novel Blindsight, moves toward psychological collapse.
The band avoids genre labeling but consistently draws from minimal synth, gothic rock, and post-punk configurations. References to The Cure, Musta Paraati, and A Flock of Seagulls appear in press materials, though their inclusion seems intended more as loose orientation than formal alignment.
Lathe of Heaven formed in New York. Their debut Bound by Naked Skies was released by Sacred Bones in 2023. Members have backgrounds in hardcore and DIY punk scenes. Singer Gage Allison previously played in various projects associated with the Northeastern U.S. underground. The current lineup includes Daniel Rojas on bass, Noel Mateus on guitar, and Stephen Reader on drums. The band’s name references Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1971 novel.
Aurora will be available digitally and on vinyl formats via Sacred Bones on 29 August.
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