Philadelphia’s favorite collective of overachievers, New Miserable Experience, have announced their new album Gild the Lily, arriving January 23 via Pelagic Records. Yes, the band with a lineup so stacked it reads like a festival poster—featuring members of Rivers of Nihil, ex-Revocation, Rosetta, and Model Prisoner—is officially back to make your winter a little moodier.
Alongside the announcement, the band has unveiled the album’s second preview track: the evocative, slow-burning “Ordinary People.” According to the band, “Ordinary People” is a song reacting to rich and powerful men trying to convince us they’re just everyday folks — and that empathy is somehow a flaw.
(We’ll let you decide which of those concepts is more absurd.)
A COLLECTIVE WITH RANGE (AND A LOT OF PEDALS)
Born as a file-swapping experiment between vocalist/bassist David Grossman (ex-Rosetta) and multi-instrumentalist Joshua Mahesh Kost (Model Prisoner), New Miserable Experience quickly evolved into a full-scale operation. The current lineup also includes Rosetta drummer Bruce “B.J.” McMurtrie Jr., technical-metal low-end wizard Brett Bamberger (ex-Revocation), and guitarist Brody Uttley of Rivers of Nihil.
Every member leaves a distinct fingerprint on the music:
Vocals as the emotional anchor — confessional, immediate, and intentionally human.
Synths and guitars that shimmer, pulse, and spiral into carefully built motifs.
Percussion that marries groove with electronic tension.
Bass lines that often serve as melodic counterpoint rather than background rumble.
The result is a sound that rewards patient listening, leaning into craft over spectacle—though the occasional moment of glorious melodrama still slips through, because some habits are hard to break.
Across 12 meticulously arranged tracks, Gild the Lily trims away excess in favor of clarity: melodic focus, dynamic precision, and production rich enough to get lost in. It’s an album more interested in emotional gravity than explosive theatrics, weaving tension through subtle shifts rather than brute force.
Expect a blend of alternative synth rock, chorus-washed guitar lines, and a rhythm section that alternates between tight propulsion and echo-soaked space. Fans of ††† (Crosses), Ulver, The Black Queen, and similarly atmospheric boundary-pushers will feel right at home—possibly too at home.
