TIMES OF GRACE, featuring Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse Leach of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, has released its second album, “Songs of Loss and Separation”, via the band’s own imprint label, Wicked Good Records, distributed by ADA Worldwide. A decade removed from their debut album “The Hymn Of A Broken Man”, it brings the emotionally charged intensity, artistic passion, and heartfelt lyrics that fans have grown to expect from TIMES OF GRACE.
To celebrate the album’s bow, the trio has just shared the video for the fourth single, “Mend You”. It’s an impactful song about love, loss — and ultimately — personal redemption. The video was directed by Nick Hipa and was shot in the beautiful landscape of Joshua Tree, California.
“‘Mend You’ is about finding yourself at a loss for words,” shares Leach. “It’s about the struggle to come to terms with an unraveling and falling apart. It is also about finding the will to carry on and stay loyal to your own heart, even when no one else seems to understand what you are going through. It’s a song about the journey of finding a way to mend wounds and in time find a deeper sense of self love.”
Dutkiewicz, who produced “Songs Of Loss And Separation” as well as the band’s debut, adds: “‘Mend You’ is one of my favorites since the lyrics can mean different things to different people — and I know these hit our drummer Dan at an important time in his life.”
Drummer Dan Glezak addresses this assertion and the song’s effect on him, saying: “This is probably the most emotionally charged song on the record for me. Adam sent me a mix and I felt the instrumental section in the bridge could use a sample. I remembered a voice note that I sent to someone, which was saved on my phone, and it fell perfectly in line with Jesse‘s lyrics. Initially, I was scared to use something so personal, but the guys liked it, so it stuck. It’s still really hard for me to hear this song but it’s one of my favorites.”
The band’s debut album “The Hymn Of A Broken Man” arrived in 2011, nearly a decade after Leach‘s exit from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, the pivotal New Wave Of American Heavy Metal band the duo co-founded with friends in 1999. The first music from TIMES OF GRACE materialized during Dutkiewicz‘s arduous recovery from near-crippling back surgery. A collection of songs the multi-instrumentalist and producer knew would suit his once and future bandmate. The first album earned acclaim from BBC Music, The Aquarian and Rock Sound. It willfully upended expectations, with flourishes of shoegaze and ambiance in its songs.
Now, 10 years after TIMES OF GRACE first surfaced, the eagerly awaited follow-up arrives.
Comfortably stretched beyond the parameters of what came before, without sacrificing an ounce of integrity, TIMES OF GRACE weaves between pensive, heavy, midtempo rock, riffs, and atmosphere. The pair’s vocal interplay makes for a rich, dense, and enthralling concoction, powering through various trips through dark nights of the soul and mind-expanding excursions into the wild. “Songs Of Loss And Separation” benefits wildly from the powerhouse performance of ex-ENVY ON THE COAST drummer Dan Gluszak, who toured behind the first album and is now an official member of the band.
The sprawling second album from TIMES OF GRACE, with a stunning album cover painted by John McCormack and album art layout by Tom Bejgrowicz, channels a dissonant, menacing, and unrelenting depression. Haunting romanticism and deep spiritual yearning collide in beautiful melancholy. It’s a diverse but singular statement, like the most beloved work of classic bands. “Songs Of Loss And Separation”, insistent in its bluesiness, bleeds distortion and emotion, like a nerve, exposed.
“Songs Of Loss And Separation” Album Artwork
“Songs Of Loss And Separation” track listing:
1. The Burden Of Belief
2. Mend You
3. Rescue
4. Far From Heavenless
5. Bleed Me
6. Medusa
7. Currents
8. To Carry The Weight
9. Cold
10. Forever
“The Hymn Of A Broken Man” was released in January 2011 via Roadrunner Records. The CD sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 44 on The Billboard 200 chart.
