Gouge Away shared powerful new track 'Spaced Out' • GRIMM Gent

As they prepare for the March 15th release of their third full-length LP Deep Sage, Gouge Away have unveiled the album’s powerful new single “Spaced Out.” The track features guest vocal appearances from Haley Butters (Pale Green Stars, Trauma Ray), Meghan O’Neil (Punch, Super Unison, King Woman), and Jasmine Watson (Torso, Ceremony). Almost left on the cutting room floor, Gouge Away vocalist Christina Michelle comments on the single:

“I completely missed the conversation where everyone decided to scrap this song. The guys all felt it was the most unfinished compared to our other demos but I heard a fun and short banger. I had a ton of fun writing the lyrics at home, imagining different voices trading off. Our friends Haley Butters, Meghan O’Neil and Jasmine Watson came to the studio to lend their voices super last minute and they really helped make this song come to life. Now we love that this song made it onto the record.”

Check out the visualizer below featuring a cake made by the song’s guest vocalist, Haley Butters.

Deep Sage started coming together in 2019 during sound checks and in small pockets of downtime between tours. In early 2020, they demoed songs with Brok Mende in an unassuming storage unit in Orlando, FL. Gouge Away pulled influence not only from the nostalgia of the bands they grew up listening to, but also developed a sense of urgency, noise, and introspective lyrics they felt most represented them. Those demos helped shape the songs into the finished record that Deep Sage would become.

Everything came to a halt in 2020 when a full year of plans were canceled in an instant. With the rug pulled out from under them, their backs against the wall, and no way to change the situation they were in, the members of Gouge Away had no choice but to go on a hiatus. They moved to different parts of the country and focused on their personal lives, accepting that those songs were never going to see the light of day. However, the songs lived as files waiting to be rediscovered and every once in a while, they’d get the urge to listen to them again.

On New Year’s Eve just before 2022, Gouge Away decided to reconnect and finish writing Deep Sage with Portland, OR becoming their new writing location. While everyone was in town for a writing session, Militarie Gun had a show down the street at Mano Oculta and invited Gouge Away to play a couple of songs during their set as a surprise. It was the first show Gouge Away had played in three years. Energized by the reaction, the band continued writing. They had an overabundance of material, slashing songs from the final tracklist left and right. They not only elaborated on the urgent and abrasive qualities they were known for but broadened their melodic traits, too.

Gouge Away entered Atomic Garden East in March 2023 with Jack Shirley at the helm, and recorded Deep Sage completely analog and almost entirely live. The band performed together in a live room while vocalist Christina Michelle was in an isolation booth, her vocals projected from a monitor so the band could hear her. The goal of recording live was to sound like five friends playing in a room together, just like where they started in Florida. Unpolished and far from being over-produced, this is what the heart of Gouge Away has always been.

Look for Deep Sage to be available on digital and physical formats on March 15, 2024 on Deathwish Inc. Pre-order / pre-save the album here.

Deep Sage, Track Listing:

Stuck in a Dream
Maybe Blue
Idealized
Deep Sage
A Welcome Change
Overwatering
No Release
The Sharpening
Spaced Out
Newtau
Dallas

Gouge Away, live:

March 15 Miami, FL @ Gramps (record release show)
March 16 Jacksonville, FL @ Underbelly (record release show)

April 17 Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom *
April 19 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
April 20 Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts *
April 21 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
April 23 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl *
April 24 Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
April 25 Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge *
April 26 Austin, TX @ Parish *
April 27 Dallas, TX @@ Sons of Hermann Hall *
April 29 Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *
April 30 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar *
May 1 San Diego, CA @ Casbah *
May 2 Los Angeles, CA @ 1720 *
May 3 San Jose, CA @ The Ritz *
May 4 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *
May 6 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom *
May 7 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s *
May 10 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club *
May 11 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge *
May 12 Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade
May 13 Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
May 14 Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary
May 16 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount *
May 17 Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall *