L.A. quartet Iress’ new album “Flaw” arrives Friday as a cathartic blast of mood-shifting metal and shoegaze, dark yet inviting. In today’s QUARANTUNES, Alex Moreno and Michelle Malley talk about battling the crippling effects of the pandemic and share a playlist for feeling uninhibited.

“Underneath,” one of four singles Iress have released so from their sophomore album, is like “falling headfirst into that dark place that can be both scary and comforting,” the L.A. quartet says. That broadly applies to their entire album, “Flaw,” which finally arrives on Friday. A muscular mix of doomy, dark metal and atmospheric shoegaze, the album was produced and engineered by Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties. It’s well worth adding to your heavy-duty Catharsis 2020 playlist … and, once the pandemic lifts, experiencing in person.

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THE ‘STAY AT HOME’ EDICT?

Alex Moreno: Working on the release of “Flaw” has kept us busy during the last few months. It has kept up some momentum and excitement for us, which has been great. During the first few months of the stay-at-home order, however, we didn’t play music together or see anyone, which was extremely hard. There was a lot of going back to the old “practice guitar in the garage” day after day. Luckily, we have been able to meet safely as a band a few times. There’s nothing like the feeling of playing with your band at full volume after that long of a break. It was very emotional.

Michelle Malley: At the beginning of lockdown, the highlight of my day was drinking coffee with my roommates. It was really hard for me to write music. I felt trapped. I started to run, do yoga and finish puzzles to keep busy. Once I was comfortable meeting, I was able to see my band again and be outside. I started to feel “normal” again. It’s been hard, but I appreciate the time I get with my friends more than ever and have been focusing on writing music and getting our album out into the world.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THIS IS OVER?

Alex Moreno: Like most of our fellow musicians and friends, we are looking forward to seeing live music and playing again. We spent most of our free time seeing bands play every week and we miss all of our friends so much.

Michelle Malley: Shows, shows, shows. I miss them so much. It’s really hard for me to watch videos of my band and our friends bands without feeling sad. I know this will bring our music family even closer, and I’m grateful for that, but I cannot wait for this to be over so we can play live music again.

ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST?

Alex Moreno: These are songs we have listened to on repeat over the past six months. To keep my mind busy during the lockdown, I would go on long walks for hours and listen to music — a lot of these songs in particular — over and over. It created this different landscape in an otherwise boring, suburban neighborhood. I would find myself walking further and further each time, completely diving into the realm of what each song made me feel. It was freeing in a time of feeling constricted.

Michelle Malley: Alex and I definitely connect with these songs and have some mutual repeats in our collection. It wouldn’t be an Iress playlist if there wasn’t some heavy, heart-wrenching songs.

With each new piece being revealed, it's being reaffirmed that Flaw, the coming full length by LA's dark and heavy shoegazers, Iress, is one of the most anticipated albums of 2020. The record arrives in its entirety on September 19th, 2020, and new cut, Hand Tremor, points nearer to the band's frailer and more delicate side.

"Hand Tremor, one of the first songs written for the album, was created one afternoon at home while we lived together in Echo Park," the band's own Alex Moreno and Michelle Malley describe the new song. "It addresses the battle between tenderness and isolation and the internal fight between giving in and being vulnerable. Hand Tremor was recorded live at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles."

Hand Tremor follows the three brilliant singles, Shamed, Underneath and Nest. Iress are Michelle Malley, Alex Moreno, Michael Maldonado, and Glenn Chu.

RIYL: Concrete Blonde, Chelsea Wolfe (acoustic), Emma Ruth Rundle

Be warned before you press play on the latest from Los Angeles-based rock outfit IRESS: “Nest” is melodic quicksand that will hold you fast and refuse to let go. On the first spin you will find yourself enchanted by their reverb-laden brand of post-rock. The effect is immediate: within seconds you are powerless to resist, quickly succumbing to their intoxicating allure. With that warning in mind, proceed and prepare to be wowed.

So what makes “Nest” a standout from other tracks that hover in that sweet spot of rock genre overlap? The secret lies in some kind of musical magic that we have not heard in some time. IRESS pair haunting vocals that evoke early ’90s legends Concrete Blonde and rising star Emma Ruth Rundle with expertly crafted layers of lush instrumentation. Frontwoman Michelle Malley’s delivery of each note is unhurried, allowing the listener to savor every passing moment. This atmospheric reverie begs you to listen with closed eyes. In return, IRESS reward you with a blissful fever dream you won’t want to wake up from.

The band’s new album, Flaw, arrives September 18th. Pre-order it on Bandcamp and get this song plus two others (“Shamed” and “Underneath”) immediately.

IRESS are: Michelle Malley (vocals, guitar), Alex Moreno (lead guitar), Michael Maldonado (bass), and Glenn Chu (drums).

Back in July we covered L.A. alt.rock quartet Iress and their track Underneath. They’re back with another song from their sophomore album Flaw. You can listen to dark jewel that is Nest below.

Somewhat lighter in mood and style than Underneath, the track still possesses a persuasive and powerful darkness at its heart. Referencing the more doomy realms of rock, as well as the melodic starkness of shoegaze and post punk, it nonetheless has a decidedly romantic, and at times emotionally raw sound thanks to Michelle’s stellar vocal performance. Nest is out now and you can stream or download the song on Bandcamp.

Be sure to check Iress out over on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, where you can find more listening options as well as keeping up to date with news about the Flaw album.

Doomgaze is certainly not something that was created in 2020, but it might be the genre we crave the most in these times of need. The latest entry into the drone mix comes from Los Angeles’ Iress, who today (August 7) drop a vertical storm of a single in “Nest.”

Though the track is brimming with the type of metal, post-rock, and shoegaze elements that prevent it from being defined by any single genre on its own, its fullness in sound intertwined with lyrical themes of combatting a personal emptiness.

“‘Nest’ is for the outsider and the misunderstood,” Iress state. “It’s about finding someone or something that looks into you and understands, without a word, the comfort you find in emptiness together.”

Los Angeles Doomgaze Quartet Iress lay bare their souls with “Nest”—the third single from the band”s forthcoming album Flaw. The song is a lush, rich, and oceanic wave of chorus, reverb, and distortion with cathedral-like vocals that reverberate with a feverish intensity. These deep emotions resonate throughout this doom-laden anthem weaving a sound that fuses together the best of both 80s dark metal ballads with early 90s shoegaze.

Certainly, “Nest” is a genre-defying song that is both visceral and ethereal, invoking imagery of a sea of lighters during a concert hall mass while at the same time sounding like a heavier substitute of Mazzy Star’s “Into Dust” setting the scene of a ritualistic circle illuminated by candlelight.

“Nest is for the outsider and the misunderstood; it’s about finding someone or something that looks into you and understands, without a word, the comfort you find in emptiness together.”

Los Angeles-located atmospheric rock band Iress will release their highly anticipated heavy, yet melodic new album Flaw on September 18th.

The LP was recorded and produced by Sarah Tudzin, mixed by Collin Pastore, and mastered by Jett Galindo, Flaw was recorded at the Sunset House at Sunset Sound, Sonora Recorders, and the Snack Shack in Highland Park.

Band members Michelle Malley, Alex Moreno, Michael Maldonado, and Glenn Chu unveil a commanding ‘doomgaze’ sound that is driven by thickly textured guitar ambiance, lively bass lines, weighty drumming, and potent ethereal to emotive vocals.

Over the past several years the band has gained acclaim for their music that submerges the listener into another world of reveries and turmoil. Their powerful live performances and raw talent have brought them attention ,which have landed them opening spots for high-caliber acts such as Brutus, Slothrust, and Sunflower Bean.

Flaw delves into themes that range from heartache to addiction to loss of faith, The LP aims to address the complexities of the human condition. Iress draws from its Southern Californian roots with a recurring ocean theme throughout the album; one of depth, calm, and renewal.

Iress has released a string of singles (“Shamed,” “Underneath,” and “Nest”) since the end of December 2019, and Big Takeover is stoked to host the premiere of “Hand Tremor,” a compelling slow-burner that opens with reflective, yet gleaming acoustic guitar lines and rolls out in a measured wave of velvety vocal melancholia. Achingly vulnerable emotions rise to the surface as the gentle guitar motif mirrors the downcast rumination.

About the song, the band reveals, ““Hand Tremor,” one of the first songs written for the album, was created one afternoon at home while we (Alex and Michelle) lived together in Echo Park. It addresses the battle between tenderness and isolation and the internal fight between giving in and being vulnerable..”

Based in Los Angeles, alt.rock quartet Iress prepare to follow up their 2017 Prey album later this year with their sophomore album Flaw. New single Underneath is the second single to be released and is a doomy yet beautiful gem of a song.

Doom-laden yet not downbeat or oppressive, Underneath has an unusual but incredibly appealing presence to it. Imagine a more accessible, melodic Sunn O))) or Myrkr adopting a more sweeping rock tone to her more folkish moments, and you are getting to the dark heart of this song.

You can stream or download Underneath on Bandcamp. Be sure to check the band out over on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram where you can find more listening options as well as keeping up to date with news about the Flaw album.

Iress’ music is a heavy, warm blanket on a scary, dark and bitter cold night. Comforting, yet with the understanding that should one venture from beneath the covers, there be monsters about.

Their latest single “Underneath,” is a compelling example of that realm, with Michelle Malley’s emotive and ethereal vocals framed by drop-D, reverb-laden crunch and tom-tom thunder, exploding into a shimmering and cathartic chorus. Guitarist Alex Moreno and Malley explain their willful surrender: “‘Underneath’ is about the desire to give in to self-destructive patterns to feel numb, falling headfirst into that dark place that can be both scary and comforting. ‘So inviting, I dive, blue and bent,’ I imagine walking slowly into the sea and letting it engulf me.”

Iress music has all the depth, beauty and violence of the North Atlantic, with 100-foot icy waves that crest and come crashing down one minute and then calming into a glimmering sun kissed ocean the next. They’ve found a unique sound that traverses the edges of doom metal and fuses it with 4AD ’80s-era shoegaze. They build somber cathedrals of sound, reverent in a stoic darkness, accented with stabs of light piercing through the stained glass.

The foursome of  Malley, Moreno, bassist Michael Maldonado and drummer Glenn Chu have been making their beautiful racket for several years now, dating back to their first album, “Prey,” released in 2015 when they were known as IRIS. “Underneath” — which was recorded and produced by Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties, mixed by Collin Pastore and mastered by Jett Galindo — follows their initial single release, “Shamed,” both of which will be on Iress’ sophomore album “Flaw,” to be released this fall.

There’s an ethereal quality to Iress‘ music that makes me feel like I’m floating in an energetic primordial ocean, being called to my next journey by a voice made of pure light. I’m listening to their new single “Underneath” off their album Flaw that comes out later this year, produced and recorded by Sarah Tudzin. This is magical, devastatingly beautiful doomgaze that perfectly blends feminine strength with masculine power to create something that feels like a cosmic shift to a superb way of being. And I’m not talking about women and men, I’m talking about the energies that exist in everything and that have been way out of whack for centuries. It’s like with “Underneath” Iress is giving us a sonic roadmap to utopia – but it’s not a destination without pain or suffering, instead it’s a destination with balance and integrity. This track has me really excited to hear the full album. Listen to our stream of “Underneath” right here, and pre-order Flaw right here.

‘Underneath’ is about the desire to give into self destructive patterns to feel numb, falling headfirst into that dark place that can be both scary and comforting. “So inviting, I dive, blue and bent”, I imagine walking slowly into the sea and letting it engulf me.