The Texas trio is comprised of frontman, Jonathan Horstmann (vocals, guitar, synthesizer), Kevin Naquin (vocals, guitar, synthesizer), and Paxel Foley (bass, synthesizer).
The Tower is the name of the new record by the Austin, Texas band Urban Heat. The Tower is also a tarot card and one of the major arcana within the tarot deck system. It can symbolize chaos and destruction or change and transformation. The cover art is fitting as well, it features a stark image of The Tower tarot card highlighted in a mirror. It’s imperfectly Urban Heat and says a lot about what’s to come on this record.
If you ever heard any of Urban Heat's prior releases. Then it was most likely the viral TikTok track, Have You Ever. It is a brooding dance number that showcases the resonant baritone of frontman Jonathan Horstmann. The song felt like a feverish cry for help hidden amongst a hardened synth bop. Now, Urban Heat seeks to turn over new layers, grow, and flesh out its distinctive sound and strengths. The Tower sees Urban Heat honing in on their distinctively peculiar sound, challenging themselves lyrically on this record. The Tower delves into the wreckage and trauma of what choices can do to relationships, whether or not we have control of many of these choices. The Tower sees the band actively exploring and experimenting with abstract and bare synths and guitar sounds to emulate the wreckage of what can happen if we isolate. Or let our emotions take hold of us to the point where everything can come crashing down. From the skittering synth lines and drawn-out bass hits of the opener, Take This To Your Grave quickly segues into a darkened discotheque for Sanitizer.
However, the overall elements of the record seem to shift to a more introspective and reflective focus, like on the insular melancholy of Say the Words rather than the previously mentioned Sanitizer. There is still a fair amount of their signature buoyant post-punk dance tunes. Some highlights are the Right Time of Night, which has faint echoes of IDM, or the closing track, Addicted to the Sounds, where the pulsating synth beats create another track perfect for the dance floor. On The Tower, Urban Heat sounds like a band not seeking to claim their place but to affirm it.
Stream The Tower by Urban Heat out now on Artoffact Records
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