In our accelerated culture where music fads come and go (and with increasing rapidity), nine years is akin to several lifetimes. Yet, believe it or not, that is the period that has elapsed between I See Stars’ previous album (Treehouse) and their latest offering THE WHEEL. If the preceding years have found their fanbase drifting away, then they’re bound to be pulled back into the fold (along with many new admirers) by the magnetic pull and hypnotic swirl of this long player. Featuring fourteen tracks that evolve and revolve, THE WHEEL finds I See Stars rolling towards a bright future.
Almost a decade between albums might suggest that I See Stars have been standing idle, but nothing could be further from the truth. After releasing and touring Treehouse, the band started writing another album, but then Covid hit and brought things to a shuddering halt. With a wealth of time on their hands the band scrapped their previous plans and refocused their energies. Of course, having too much time can also prove an Achilles Heel and when offered an expanse of time artists can often smooth off those creative edges. However, THE WHEEL bristles with an energy that rolls back the years and finds the band releasing an album that stands as a career best. That THE WHEEL flows so seamlessly is largely due to the concept that stitches it together. The passage of time and all of it’s triumphs and tragedies are the loose themes that weave this album into a collective whole and when coupled with the band’s engaging brand of electronicore you have a totally immersive experience. The electronic (roulette) wheel that forms brief introduction ‘Spin It’ finds the band throwing caution to the wind before the majestic title-track and, akin to being surrounded by a swarm of bees, I See Stars attack from all angles. Yet, the band are far from one-dimensional and the huge white spaces inserted into ‘Eliminator’ are just as frightening as anything they do sonically. It’s this constant push and pull, the juxtaposition between the loud and quiet that holds the listener’s attention and anticipating what will come next.
As a genre tag, the term “electronicore” is a wide umbrella and has different meanings over the globe and the brand in which I See Stars deals is more in tune with the UK variant, rather the strain that grew in their native USA. I See Stars have an experimental edge that finds them pushing at sonic boundaries but if you’ve never heard the band before then think early Killing Joke tangling with Swans whilst at a Björk listening party. It’s a heady mix and one that gives I See Stars a real crossover appeal that’ll sate fans as disparate as emo kids and hardened metalheads.
As I see Stars celebrate their twentieth anniversary they’ve produced an album in THE WHEEL that’ll find them rolling forwards many years hence.
- THE WHEEL is released via Sumerian Records on 12th September 2025.
- Facebook | X | Instagram
Track List:
1. Spin It
2. THE WHEEL
3. Eliminator
4. D4MAGE DONE
5. FLOAT
6. Drift
7. are we 3ven?
8. Flood Light
9. Carry On For You
10. SPLIT
11. Lost It (ft. Palaye Royale)
12. Afterdark
13. Anomaly
14. Curtain Call
