THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Amblare’s self-titled debut album is nothing short of a triumphant beginning — an impressive, propulsive and muscular bulldozer of radiant, emotive post-hardcore and grungy indie-rock. But it is also a tragic ending — the album documents the final recordings of Hum drummer Bryan St. Pere.
Based in Evansville, Indiana, a small city west of Louisville, Kentucky, Amblare was formed by principal songwriter and frontman Matt McGuyer, bassist Alex Wallwork, and St. Pere, revered around the globe for his decades of drumming with Hum.
McGuyer describes how the undeniable chemistry between the three musicians transformed a solo project into a full-fledged band: “I started playing drums at five years old. Guitar at 10 years old. I played in many bands but I always wanted to write, record, and release a record, entirely myself. While working towards that goal, around 2016, I began posting what I had been working on. To my surprise, my posts caught Bryan St. Pere’s attention and he contacted me, asking if I wanted any help with what I was up to.
“We got together to hang out and we agreed that starting a band for these songs I had been writing was a fun idea and worthwhile quest. He mentioned that for bass, we needed a local guy we knew about and loved the playing of, mutually. That is Alex Wallwork. My first time ever seeing Alex, he was playing bass at a local music store and I fell in love with his playing. We fit together instantly. So, we officially became a band and Alex made up the name Amblare.”
Recorded at Earth Analog Recording Studio by Matt Talbott (Hum) in 2019 and 2020, and mixed and mastered by Mario Quintero (Spotlights), Amblare’s self-titled debut sees the trio bash out moody, soul-stirring post-hardcore songs, recommended highly for fans of Cave In and Failure.
The album’s opener Starlight, is a two-minute burst of hope and longing that sets the scene for what is to unfold over the next seven tracks. Slamming, groove-heavy drumming lays the base for crunchy rhythm guitars, glistening leads, and mesmerizing vocals. “Starlight is about loving someone so deeply and intrinsically that telepathic energetic communication beyond the grave is possible,” states McGuyer. “It’s a swaying ballroom in the cosmos.”
St. Pere passed away in the summer of 2021, just as the Amblare album was nearing completion. “We are honoring Bryan’s wishes to press the Amblare album and release it,” says McGuyer. Plans are in motion for live shows in 2024 with an as-yet-unnamed drummer filling St. Pere’s shoes. McGuyer and Wallwork, meanwhile, lend their talents to numerous other projects; McGuyer is the newest member of long-running indie-rock favorites Mock Orange and Wallwork plays with trad metallers Faerie Ring, to name two.”
