Hidden Hospitals Releases Album Today

Alternative rock band HIDDEN HOSPITALS has spent the past three years finely etching their debut full-length album SURFACE TENSION, and with today's release (3/24) the wait is over. The self-released album is available digitally via iTunes, Amazon , and other online retailers, as well as physical CD and limited copies on vinyl via a partnership with Secret Audio Club. The Chicago-based foursome--which includes members from previous projects Damiera (Equal Vision Records) and Kiss Kiss (Eyeball Records)--teamed with Substream magazine last Friday (3/20) to exclusively premiere the album; over the weekend fans took to social media expressing their excitement for the new music.

Produced and mixed by J. Hall, who also worked on their past releases, SURFACE TENSION is a record that churns heavy with kinetic energy and precise movements. A stable and familiar thread ties together the album--carefully paced through 12 engaging tracks--as a whole. The band transitions seamlessly between sharp, taut guitar-rock reminiscent of Diamond Eyes-era Deftones and an atmosphere of electronica evoking Radiohead's Kid A. The band takes a minimalist approach to songwriting--the thoughtful process of reduction, leaving nothing but what's necessary.

A series of music videos will be unveiled in the coming weeks. Rather than release traditional videos, the band--DAVE RAYMOND (Vocals/Guitar), STEVE DOWNS (Guitar), JARED KARNS (Drums) and JOHN SCOTT (Bass/Vocals)--will take a more artful approach by releasing a short film, broken into three parts and set to "Pulp," "Rose Hips" and "Modern Saints." As DAVE explained to Arena.com , "We got to the task of trying to choose a single from the album and months of throwing it out to people and couldn't decide on one, so we're taking the route of not releasing a single. I think that puts the work on us to campaign around each song to put it out a new way. We've done performance videos in the past and we wanted to do something new this time. There is a concept, it's fairly abstract, and I'd like to refrain from revealing it until we can get it out to the world."

Additionally, the band will perform a special hometown Chicago show and album release party on Friday, April 3 at Double Door. Tickets are on sale now here.

Track Listing for SURFACE TENSION:

1. Pulp
2. Rose Hips
3. Modern Saints
4. History
5. Wounded Sirens
6. Bone Scraper
7. Trilogy
8. Synesthesia
9. Animals
10. Broken Skeletons
11. From Toxin
12. Surface Tension