Trevor Shelley de Brauw (Pelican)
photo by Matt Darcy
What are your top five albums that were released in 2025? (In order 1-5)
- Radioactivity - Time Won’t Bring Me Down
- Home Front - Watch It Die
- Ethel Cain - Perverts
- Pissgrave - Malignant Worthlessness
- Young Widows - Power Sucker
What band did you discover in 2025 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? How so?
Though I first head Sour Widows last year, I finally got to see them this year and got so obsessed with their album. It’s incredible to hear a pair of guitarists in such perfect lockstep while veering off from each other in such complex, but melodically satisfying ways. And the songwriting is pristine. They’re operating on a crazy level.
How will you remember 2025 (in terms of music)?
Because Pelican release albums so infrequently and we had a new one this year that’ll always serve as my landmark for 2025. And because we played so much I got to see and share the road with so many bands that I love and respect: Porcelain, Uniform, Couch Slut, Coalesce, Cloakroom, Young Widows, Russian Circles, the list goes on and on.
What can we look forward to from you in 2026?
We’ve just announced a new four song EP that’s coming in January: a couple songs held over from the sessions to our last album Flickering Resonance along side a pair of songs that we originally recorded and self-released last year. In the wake of that we are playing Run For Cover’s Something in the Way Fest, making our first trip to Mexico for Doom City Festival, then headed to Europe with Russian Circles. We’re also actively writing, so ideally won’t be a six year gap between albums next time.
What records are you looking forward to most in 2026?
Dillinger Four semi-recently post studio photos, which I’m hoping means new stuff is coming from them. Robert Smith teased that the follow-up to Songs of a Lost World was practically done, so I’m hoping that is sooner than later. Also really psyched for the new Nothing record.
Singles rule the music scene right now. How has that affected you as a band or label? Has it influenced your approach to new releases or touring?
It really hasn’t affected our approach much. Pelican still really thinks in terms of albums as a defining statement and we write and release with the in mind. Fortunately for us our fanbase seem album-oriented as well, so it hasn’t proved to be a hinderance… yet.
Trevor Shelley de Brauw – social media links
- Twitter: @pelicansong
- Instagram: @pelicansong
