Sidewalk Mafia have signed to Octopus Rising and Argonauta Records, and the first thing out of the deal is a single rather than an album announcement. To Go is out now, the first of two tracks for the label.
The Helsinki trio say that is the plan rather than a staging post. Instead of following Soulcrushers with another full-length, they intend to release songs one at a time and let the sound change as they go. "The upcoming singles represent exactly what we want to sound like right now," they said, calling it a new chapter.
That makes two bands this week arguing for the same thing, after Jesse Leach made the case for four songs over a record. For a gothic doom trio four albums smaller than Killswitch Engage, the reasoning is simpler: a song released now is a song that sounds like now.
On To Go itself they are specific about the effect they wanted. "It creates a world where you might have deceptively good or even great vibes, even though an unknown cold void awaits just around the corner. The tempo of the song is the driving force and tries to keep us out of calamity, but it's not safe in the dark."
The band formed in 2021 and have toured Finland, the United Kingdom and the Baltic states behind two albums, the most recent in 2024.