Australian punks Clay J Gladstone just dropped their debut album, Is This How I Die? This highly anticipated record, released November 1 via Def Wolf Records, delves into the depths of grief and mortality, inspired by frontman Tim Wisbey’s personal experience of losing his father at a young age.
“We’ve had the songs for about two to three years, and we recorded it between three places,” he shares, speaking about the album’s creation process.
The album’s sonic landscape is a blend of upbeat, energetic rock and more introspective, somber moments. “The first half of the album is pretty upbeat, sort of a Weezer, rocky vibe. And then there’s an acoustic track kind of halfway through the record that really turns the album in a bit of a U-turn into something a bit darker,” Wisbey adds.
“A lot of the lyrics throughout the album are based around dealing with that,” he continues, referring to his father’s passing. “I kind of went off the rails a little bit when that happened. The whole record is kind of based around death. I thought, ‘Is this how I die?’ after he suddenly got on the heart attack. At any time, that could happen to me as well.”
As for the future, Wisbey is already brimming with ideas for new music. “We’ve already got a bunch of bunch of songs that could quite easily fall into a second record,” he reveals. “My next idea is, I want to do a record called Something to Lose, with all the themes we were talking about, the fear of death, we thought that was appropriate. But then we thought we liked Is This How I Die? better.
With Is This How I Die?, Clay J Gladstone offer a raw and honest exploration of grief, anxiety, and the human condition. As the band continue to evolve, their music promises to resonate with listeners who seek authenticity and emotional depth.
