Despite having issued their 4-song If You Only Knew EP last spring, it’s been a while since we’ve heard a full album from ethereal L.A. doom-gaze force Blackwater Holylight. That all changes next year when the act release their fourth full-length, Not Here Not Gone.
The 10-song project was teased a touch through the trio’s socials last week, but was formally announced by Blackwater Holylight this morning (November 10th), along with a video premiere for the collection’s “Heavy, Why?”
Scored by psychedelically gloom-crested bass grooves and crushing drums, the video dives deep into candle-lit rituals and moody boat trips, and finds Blackwater Holylight sharing screen-time with equine co-stars.
Bassist-vocalist Sunny Faris explains of the song, itself: “‘Heavy, Why?’ is a lyrically light and instrumentally heavy arrangement that cryptically but intentionally speaks to the experience of being disembodied and poses the question, simply, of: ‘Why? Why is it such a hard, lonely, agonizing and heavy experience to be turned away from Self.'”
Not Here Not Gone is the official full-length follow-up to 2021’s Silence/Motion, and marks the act’s first album project since they moved from their hometown of Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles, California.
The album is said to explore the duality of dark and light, whether sonically or thematically — drummer Eliese Dorsay noting, “some songs we’re the predator, and some songs we’re the prey.”
In addition to Faris, Dorsay and guitarist Mikayla Mayhew’s contributions, the record also features production work from Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio, Celebration). The album was recorded at the Sonic Ranch facility near El Paso TX by Sonny Diperri (Narrow Head, DIIV, Emma Ruth Rundle).
Not Here Not Gone is due out January 30th via Suicide Squeeze, and can be pre-ordered here. That’d be the cover art and tracklisting down below.
Blackwater Holylight have also confirmed a number of North American and European concert dates to support Not Here Not Gone, which begin in early February. You’ll find the show schedule beneath the album info.
Not Here Not Gone tracklisting:
How Will You Feel
Involuntary Haze
Bodies
Heavy, Why?
Giraffe
Spades
Void To Be
Fade
Mourning After
Poppyfields
Blackwater Holylight tour dates 2026:
2/13 San Diego, CA – Casbah
2/14 Phoenix, AZ – Last Exit
2/15 Albuquerque, NM – Sister
2/17 Austin, TX – Radio/East
2/18 Houston, TX – White Oak
2/19 New Orleans, LA – No Dice
2/20 Pensacola, FL – Handlebar
2/21 Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
2/22 Asheville, NC – Eulogy
2/24 Charlottesville, VA – Southern Cafe
2/25 Baltimore, MD – Metro
2/26 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
2/27 Brooklyn, NY – Meadows
2/28 Braintree, MA – Widowmaker Brewing
3/02 Youngstown, OH – Westside Bowl
3/03 Indianapolis, IN – Black Circle
3/04 Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village
3/06 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
3/07 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
3/08 Salt Lake City, UT – Aces High
3/10 Seattle, WA – Neumos
3/11 Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
3/12 Sacramento, CA – Starlet
3/13 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
3/14 Santa Cruz, CA – Moe’s Alley
3/21 Los Angeles, CA – Pacific Electric
4/18 Tilburg, NL – Roadburn Fest
5/06 Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique
5/07 Hamburg, DE – MS Stubnitz
5/08 Copenhagen, DK – A Colossal Weekend fest
5/09 Oslo, NO – Desertfest
5/10 Gothenburg, SE – Monument
5/12 Poznań, PL – Pod Minoga
5/13 Leipzig, DE – UT Connewitz
5/14 Berlin, DE – Desterfest
5/15 Nuenkirchen, DE – Stummsche Reithalle
5/16 Brussel, BE – Obsidian Dust fest
5/17 London, UK – Desterfest
5/18 Newcastle, UK – The Cluny
5/19 Glasgow, UK – Stereo
5/20 Manchester, UK – The Deaf Institute
5/22 Helsinki, FIN – Sonic Rites Fest