A Stranger to You: 6 Years of Build-Up that Sticks the Landing

Published: Sunday, July 19, 2026

by Jack Reed

On February 7th, 2020, Loathe would release their album I Let It In and It Took Everything, an album that would take the band to heights they’d never seen before. It quickly made them one of the most praised and talked about bands in the scene, and every year it seemed they kept getting bigger and bigger. But with each year passing, the question of “what’s next for the band?” began to linger. It would take the band almost 6 and a half years for that question to be answered, with them releasing the highly anticipated album A Stranger to You being released July 17th, 2026.  

 

The anticipation and build up was unlike anything I had seen before mainly due to the fact that it felt almost unnatural in the modern music age we live in for a band to take this long to release an album. It feels like bands are pushed to release as much music as humanly possible or else people will lose interest in them and move on to the next thing. It was honestly cool seeing Loathe resist that mindset, whether intentional or not. It was clear the band was taking their time with their art and making sure it was the project they were 100% happy with and wanted to release. With the album now being out, I can say that it truly is one of a kind and most importantly the wait was well worth it.  

 

In a way, it’s hard not to compare the album to I Let It In…, not just musically but mainly atmospherically and tone wise. The albums feel like polar opposites to each other, but yet the transition to A Stranger to You feels very natural. The world of I Let It In… is almost like a depressive episode or feelings of stress, anxiety and distress. It is dark and brooding with little to no room to breathe. It feels like a relentless, hopeless feeling that feels like it’s never going to stop.  

 

The world of A Stranger to You feels like the rain has stopped and the clouds have parted to show a little bit of sunlight. The album sounds very bright and almost accepting tone to everything. Yet it still has a moody, almost melancholic nature to it. In my opinion, the album encapsulates the feeling of this aftermath well. You’ve accepted and moved past this upset feeling, but you still feel hollow and shallow. Songs like The Way It Breaks, The Ladder, and No Stranger to You overall capture this feeling the most with them being very lyrically driven songs, and those lyrics matching this atmosphere around them. Overall, I could describe this album in one word, which is cathartic.  

 

One thing I’ve noticed upon a couple listens is how this album seems to be driven and inspired by dance music the most. Gemini overall captures this dance vibe perfectly with it sounding like a rave during the bridge section. The entire album has this dance vibe no matter what the song might sound like musically. The entire album, even at its most vulnerable, makes you just want to move, whether it’s through jumping up and down manically or merely swaying your head back and forth. The dance elements are something that could be seen as an out of nowhere addition to some, but to me it helps make the album feel special.  

 

That’s kind of how I can sum this album up though with it includes a lot of out-of-the-box ideas that your average metal band wouldn’t include. I honestly would go as far as this album really isn’t a metal record as it is just a record. An amazing record filled to the brim with ideas and inspirations that come from all over the place, with metal being one of those feelings. It’s a collection of what these people love the most mixed in with real emotions that help drive the music and make it something special. The album overall is so unapologetically Loathe. No other band could come up with a song like Fortress Down or Gifted Every Strength, they’re so fueled by this group of 4 guys who have love and passion for what they do. To sum it all up, A Stranger to You is more than just an album, it’s a unique journey driven by 6 years of emotions and love compiled into these 14 stellar tracks.  

 

For more information reach out to Jack Reed at jack.reed@student.shu.edu 

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