Entangled, the new single from Atlanta’s Now After Nothing, opens with guitars that quiver like heat rising from a long stretch of asphalt: tones stretched into trembling streaks, each one carrying a muted ache beneath its burn. They drift through the introduction with patient insistence, holding the track in a slow suspension. It’s a bold way to begin: the band lets the moment widen, breathe, and gather force before a single syllable cuts through.
Matt Spatial commands the song with a voice that is low, controlled, weighted with fatigue and resolve. Drums land in deliberate bursts, giving the song a spine without hurrying its pulse. Everything feels tightened, drawn inward. Their style nods toward My Bloody Valentine’s blur and Sonic Youth’s serrated drive, but Now After Nothing fold those impulses into something unmistakably their own.
Spatial explains the track’s core plainly: “Entangled..is a song about the reality of being completely enveloped in those people (or things) that do little more than stir massive amounts of chaos and anguish into our worlds. Lyrically, the song represents a moment of clarity as the protagonist begins to physically and emotionally struggle with trying to separate themselves from the situation.”
That struggle sharpens the arrangement. Guitars tighten their line, bending beneath the weight of each phrase; percussion settles into a steady pulse, the rhythm of someone bracing before a difficult step. The piece shifts, almost imperceptibly, into a zone of mounting pressure, mapping the emotional geometry of entrapment. The final swell lands like a breach point: voices layered into a rising mass, guitars widening their reach, the rhythm locking into place as the truth becomes too large to quiet.
“It’s one of my most favoured songs that I’ve ever written,” Spatial says. “I felt very strongly about wanting to bring a visual dimension to it. From the soothing intro through to the climactic cacophony of multiple, intermingling voices (representing the chaos and intensity of emotions) it is certainly the most ambitious song I’ve ever written and recorded.”
The accompanying video deepens that tension. “The concept behind the video was to reimagine the lyrics through a sequence of hazy and mostly dreamlike scenarios as if to echo memories, feelings, and a general flood of emotions,” Spatial explains. Faces blur at the edges; gestures tilt in and out of comprehension, mirroring the way the mind circles a painful, fragmented bond.
Watch the video for “Entangled” below:
Across Artificial Ambivalence’s six tracks, Spatial threads through social, political, and personal fissures with stark candor. The record circles the binds we inherit and the ones we willingly feed; attachments warped by addiction, digital noise, power, and proximity.
Entangled closes Artificial Ambivalence with a rare sharpness. It sketches the breaking point with precision, guided by guitars that glow at the perimeter and a lyric that cuts straight to the bruise. The album was mixed by Carl Glanville (U2, Joan Jett) and mastered by John Davis and Felix Davis. Mark Gemini Thwaite (Peter Murphy, Gary Numan, Mission UK) lends additional guitar work to Sick Fix and Dare.
“Artificial Ambivalence, as a concept, to me represents the state of feeling lost and/or the ‘shutting down’ from the negativity and toxicity around each of us,” Spatial concludes.
Now After Nothing’s presence continues to grow through their electric live shows across the Southeast, sharing stages with Vision Video, Glass Spells, Rosegarden Funeral Party, AL1CE, and Curse Mackey (My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult; Pigface). With expanded touring planned for 2026, the band is shifting into a new phase: louder rooms, wider reach, and a voice that keeps cutting through the noise.
Artificial Ambivalence is out now. Listen below and order here:
Follow NOW AFTER NOTHING:
