Just from its title, you can probably guess that Tetrarch‘s new album, The Ugly Side of Me, is maybe not going to be the most upbeat listening experience. Digging into the actual music will prove that assumption mostly correct, though you may pick up on some cracks of light shining through.
“Everybody has something about themselves or a situation they’re in that they’re not happy with, that they don’t like to share or they don’t wanna confront,” vocalist Josh Fore tells ABC Audio of the record’s theme. “The album as a whole is just kind of dealing with maybe anxious feelings, but not being afraid to face those things that you’re dealing with.”
Fore continues, “It’s like a push-and-pull throughout the album where it’s, like, ‘Oh, I’m in this situation, I’m stuck, I hate this,’ but then at the same time, there’s always, in most of the songs, some kind of yearning of, like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna get out of this.'”
The riffs of guitarist Diamond Rowe soundtrack that push-and-pull, building on her skills after establishing her style and identity as a player on Tetrarch’s last album, 2021’s Unstable. On The Ugly Side of Me, Rowe found herself “being able to beef up parts even more or make the weird sounds even cooler and add even cooler effects and textures to them.”
The Ugly Side of Me also features more of Rowe singing, particularly on the song “Never Again (Parasite).” Bringing her vocals into the Tetrarch sound has long been in the works, though she shares that she felt “a little nervous” about the idea in the past.
“I had the confidence finally to actually just do it,” Rowe says.
The Ugly Side of Me is out now.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
