We Speak Rock

The Human Hearts Stream Faith & Credit Ahead of Its November 13 Release on Dromedary Records

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2026

Franklin Bruno of The Human Hearts speaking into a microphone

A veteran songwriter with more than 20 albums behind him is back with a band record that moves from drone to Motown stomp without losing its thread. The Human Hearts are streaming Faith & Credit ahead of its release this Friday, November 13, on Dromedary Records, with Magnet Magazine hosting an advance stream and an exclusive track-by-track written by the band’s Franklin Bruno.

“Perhaps their most musically adventurous work yet” – Rock and Roll Globe

“Franklin Bruno knows pop from the beginning–19th-century sheet music.” – Robert Christgau

“Bruno’s songwriting feels instantly recognizable.” – Rosy Overdrive

“Instantly affable and eminently catchy… infectious in the best possible way.” – Start Track

This Friday, The Human Hearts will release their anticipated new album, Faith & Credit on Dromedary Records. The album arrives after the release of pre-release singles “(Too Many) Illusions” and “Still In Error” and their accompanying music videos. The tracks have already been praised writers by Bandcamp, The Big Takeover, Glide Magazine, NPR, New Noise Magazine, Qobuz and many more. In anticipation of the full album, Magnet Magazine is hosting an advance stream along with an exclusive track-by-track written by the band’s Franklin Bruno.

Faith & Credit is the fourth full-length from The Human Hearts, the Queens-and-Brooklyn indie band fronted by veteran songwriter Franklin Bruno (Nothing Painted Blue, The Extra Glenns/Lens), and their first release for Dromedary Records. Recorded and mixed by jangle-pop legend Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Game Theory, Let’s Active) at his Fidelitorium Studio in North Carolina, the album’s 13 songs move freely between propulsive Yo La Tengo/Clean-style drone, post-punk art-funk, polished roots-pop, Motown/Mersey stomp, and harder-to-pin-down hybrids.

The album’s stylistic range is unified by assured band performances, Bruno’s unpretentious vocals, and his sharply observed songwriting, which pairs wit, concision, and an ear for rhyme with pointed political and social commentary. As Robert Christgau wrote of 2024’s Viable, “Bruno writes socially conscious although not therefore ideological songs, which means he’s a very smart guy who sees the world the way I and I bet you do.”

On Faith & Credit, Bruno turns his attention to urban isolation (“Cover Your Tracks!”), financial instability (“Faith & Credit”), infrastructure policy (“Shovel-Ready”), and the uncertainties of middle age (“Still in Error”), alongside more personal subjects like renting a backhouse month-to-month (“Guesthouse”). These aren’t finger-wagging protest songs so much as clear-eyed observations of what it means, and how it feels, to exist in America now.

Though rooted in Bruno’s songwriting, The Human Hearts are very much a band. Bruno (vocals/guitar/keyboards) has released more than 20 albums since 1990, first with Southern California’s Nothing Painted Blue and later as a solo artist, and has worked with The Mountain Goats, Tsunami, Laura Cantrell, and The Schramms. He is also the author of a book on Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces in Bloomsbury’s 33⅓ series and the poetry collection The Accordion Repertoire. Longtime collaborator Matt Houser (drums/percussion), a friend of Bruno’s since the Nothing Painted Blue days, has appeared on every Human Hearts release since 2012’s Another. Pete Galub (guitar) makes Faith & Credit his first album as the band’s fully integrated second guitarist, while Brandon Kalber (bass) was a full participant in the album’s rehearsing, arranging, and recording. Bob Bannister has since taken over bass duties for the band’s live shows.

The album also features a cast of longtime collaborators and guests, including Annie Nero on vocals, Mark Spencer (Son Volt, Laura Cantrell) on harmony vocals, and horns and strings recorded in Brooklyn by Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu, They Might Be Giants). A string quartet led by Jean Cook (Waco Brothers, Ida) adds an unexpected flourish to “Our Films, Their Films,” while Maimone also contributes tambourine and guitar.

For all its weighty subject matter, Faith & Credit is ultimately a vital, hook-filled rock record, driven by a cracking rhythm section, sharply executed guitars, memorable melodies, harmonies, and inventive textures. Fans of the dB’s, Go-Betweens, and Verlaines will find plenty to latch onto, but The Human Hearts sound unmistakably like themselves, whether or not they’re, as Bruno puts it, “Still in Error.”

Faith & Credit Track List

1. Still in Error

2. A Different City for a Different Life

3. (Too Many) Illusions

4. Cover Your Tracks!

5. Faith and Credit

6. Sad and Afraid

7. Untimely Beggar

8. Our Films, Their Films

9. Guesthouse

10. Boring Postcards

11. The Old Currencies

12. Shovel-Ready

13. Enemies of Song

EMPATH, Built From Volbeat, Rising And Anti-Ritual Members, Drop Their Self-Titled Debut Album

Published

17 hours ago

November 14, 2026

We Speak Media

EMPATH's four members in a black and white portrait against a dark background

Copenhagen has a new heavy rock band with serious pedigree. EMPATH, formed by members of Volbeat, Rising and Anti-Ritual, have released their self-titled debut album today, November 13th, on Indisciplinarian — a dark and dreamy take on heavy rock built on atmosphere, melody and crushing dynamics.

EMPATH is the sound of a new, dark and dreamy heavy rock band from Copenhagen, Denmark — one that revolves around atmosphere, presence and empathy. The constellation may be new, but the four members carry solid experience from bands such as Volbeat, Rising and Anti-Ritual.

In a digital and efficiency-driven age, where humanity is increasingly giving way to mechanical coldness, EMPATH — as the name suggests — is about presence, empathy and humanity. This ethos runs like a common thread through the band’s self-titled debut album, released today, November 13th, 2026, on LP, CD, cassette and digital formats via Indisciplinarian.

Across nine songs, EMPATH blends elements of progressive metal, doom, sludge and post-rock into a sound that is as dreamy and melodic as it is heavy and riff-driven. The music was recorded live with producer Lasse Ballade (Halshug, Slægt, Eyes) at Ballade Studios in Copenhagen, with vocals tracked at Grapehouse Studios by Morten Grønnegaard. Ballade also handled mix and mastering, while the artwork was created by illustrator Jon Gotlev (Nohr).

The album was first introduced by the single “Waves,” followed by “Vessel,” both pointing toward the band’s balance of melodic clarity and dense, riff-driven weight. EMPATH plays its debut show on December 11th at Hotel Cecil in Copenhagen.

EMPATH Track Listing

1. In Absence
2. Waves
3. Vessel
4. In Formation
5. In Bloom
6. In Thought
7. In Dissent
8. In Memory
9. In Return

Before forming EMPATH, guitarist/vocalist Morten Grønnegaard played with Volbeat on the albums Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies and Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie. Bassist Christian Qvortrup played in the epic doom metal band Rising, while drummer Jakob Krogholt toured and recorded with Anti-Ritual.