Long-running trio Sound&Shape — guitarist-vocalist Ryan Caudle, bassist Pat Lowry and drummer Ben Proctor — continues to stand tall among Nashville’s finest rock groups, with a knack for blending a hefty variety of pop styles with the muscle of punk and metal and the exploratory attitude of prog. (A fun way to look at it: If you like Rush’s “Working Man,” “Closer to the Heart” and “Limelight” equally, you’re almost guaranteed to love Sound&Shape.)
Their 2022 LP Disaster Medicine was a landmark effort, with some of Caudle’s best singing and writing and the group’s best ensemble performance to date, and we crowned it Best Alternative Rock Album in our annual Best of Nashville issue. From listening to some prerelease tastes of S&S’s new album Pillars of Creation, which is out today, they have been far from content to rest on their laurels.
Today, we’re very pleased to premiere a lyric video for the Pillars of Creation track “How to Talk to Ghosts.” As the title might suggest, it comes from a place of profound melancholy, as Caudle sings, “I can tell you to believe in what you see / But I won't ask you to believe in me.” While deep sadness can weigh a person down, the band fights hard against sinking into it, with a heavy, loud, kinetic rhythms and an adventurous instrumental break that cuts through the gloom. In the above clip, a pallid companion reads along with you as all manner of macabre happenings transpire outside her window.
You’ve got two chances coming up to see Sound&Shape in person. They’ll celebrate Pillars of Creation’s arrival on vinyl Saturday night at The Vinyl Lounge; the show kicks off at 8 p.m., advance tickets are $10 and Vera Bloom supports. This is a stop amid a long string of tour dates, but S&S will be back in town June 16, supporting King’s X at Brooklyn Bowl. Meanwhile, check out the band’s website and follow them on Instagram for more news.
