Jax Post-Punk Trio Glass Chapel Let Love Consume Them on “Alive”

Lovers of synth-pop, post-punk, and waves new, dark and cold, lend us your ears: Jacksonville’s own Glass Chapel have released their first new music in more than a year, the darkly romantic “Alive.” 

The trio self-produced “Alive,” their first single since May 2023’s “Foreign Rain,” with mastering by Matthew Messore (Cathedral Bells, Midi Memory). Jake Phillips (vocals, guitar, synth, drum machine), Angela Sitzler (vocals, synth) and Nick Phitides (bass) wear their influences on their sleeves, crafting a synth-spiked, moody ‘80s alt-rock sound that dips its chin at The Cure, and stands shoulder to slumped shoulder with modern-day subgenre standard-bearers like Soft Kill and Drab Majesty.

On “Alive,” Glass Chapel erect a temple of slick synth drone and oceanic guitar notes, held aloft by sparse, but strong drum machine beams. The shadowy instrumentation and Phillips’ downcast delivery complicate what otherwise reads as a love song—but at its emotional center is a double-edged sword, as Phillips establishes in its opening couplet: “My vision is simple / Oh, I can’t have a life without you.” The chorus is more cryptic, as Phillips repeatedly and incompletely intones, “I only feel alive / I only, I only … ”

After a recent slot supporting Sweeping Promises at Jack Rabbits, Glass Chapel have a Florida tour set for September, with a first-time show in Melbourne followed by return stops in Orlando and Gainesville. The run wraps with a hometown show at The Walrus on Sept. 14.

“Alive” is available to stream on your preferred platform here. The band is on Instagram here.