House of Harm are proud to announce the forthcoming release of their new album Playground, out December 1st, 2023. The new record builds and expands upon the three-piece’s enthralling shadow-pop sound, a mix of midnight atmospherics, 90s era jangle pop, and contagious synth drenched hooks that further elevate the transcendent vocals of lead singer Michael Rocheford. Rounded out by Cooper Leardi (guitar / synths) and Tyler Kershaw (guitar / synth), House of Harm have amassed an impressive following as something of a best kept secret among their growing fanbase, leading to sold out shows on both coasts by the power of word of mouth alone.
In conjunction with the album announcement House of Harm are releasing the new single “Roseglass” along with an accompanying music video. The video for the song was shot at a public marketplace in southeastern Massachusetts, a departure from the band’s past music videos, which had all been filmed in private settings. “Roseglass”, shares Rocheford, “is about the human cycle of putting yourself into situations where you feel like you’re an intruder for the sake of a better outcome later.” The scrutiny from the passers by made filming the video an uncomfortable bit of exhibitionism for the band, playing into that theme. “We wanted to show the audience what it would feel like for us to jump out of our usual skin and try to unsettle ourselves publicly to lay the groundwork for what lies ahead on this album.”
House of Harm will play several shows this fall in the leadup to the December 1st release of Playground. With October dates in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston kicking off tonight, and more to be announced in the coming weeks. Upcoming shows listed below.
“Something must have gone wrong in the developmental stages of our youth” cracks Rocheford of their chosen obsession. The band members have been drawn to music for as long as any of them can remember, and the drive to be around like minded artists and make their own noise drew them all to Boston after high school. There they all quickly enmeshed themselves, playing in other bands before meeting each other. Ever since, House of Harm have been quietly making a name for themselves among music fans with darker pop persuasions via a steady stream of releases in single, ep and album form. “We try to keep our heads down and focus on the art and what’s directly in front of us,” shares Rocheford. That attention to detail and workmanlike approach at the expense of chasing instant gratification seems to be paying dividends after years of steady effort. “It’s amazing when we head to a city like LA, where we’re thousands of miles from home, and there are hundreds of people singing along to every word. It’s a wonderful feeling to say the least.”
The journey of their new album Playground saw House of Harm stay true to that ethos. “We started writing songs for the album in 2021,” says Rocheford, “and actually had about 75 to choose from by 2022.” The band painstakingly narrowed the record down to an efficient 10 tracks that they felt made the most sense, both standing on their own as well as fitting into an LP that built a cohesive world for the listener to get lost in. “This group of songs just feels like a playground to us,” he shares of the album title’s genesis.
The album’s name also reflects the experimentation and happy accidents that came about during the writing and recording process. “We really tried to expand our sound, but a lot of the new ground we broke ended up being unintentional somehow.” On “The Face of Grace” they set out to explore different dynamics by writing a song entirely without drums, but couldn’t help themselves from putting emphasis on the song’s 6/8 waltz time signature. “Two Kinds” is another first for House Of Harm in that it’s predominantly driven by acoustic guitar. “The more you strip away from a song, the less there is to hide behind,” says Rocheford. “This vulnerability added a new dynamic that we fully embraced.” That aforementioned vulnerability shows up in other areas of the songwriting process as well with “Two Kinds” highlighted by Rocheford as one of the most revealing songs for him personally to date from a lyrical standpoint, “written from a place of reflection and weakness” and tackling feelings he hasn’t always felt comfortable putting on display for public consumption. Taken as a whole, the end result is an album representing a collection of the band’s most raw and expressive songs yet.