Austin glam-punk quintet A Giant Dog are excited to announce their sixth album—an ambitious concept album titled Bite—due August 25 via Merge Records. With the news comes the album’s first single ‘Different Than,’ which is now available to stream at all DSPs. With its steadfast refrain of “That’s what makes me different than him,” vocalist Sabrina Ellis gives us not only some insight into the album’s expansive narrative, but also a glorious rallying cry for the real world.
In contrast to what fans have grown to expect from this rough-and-rowdy crew, Bite is an intricately constructed concept album, a dense tale about its protagonist’s ultimately tragic days in a “virtual utopia” called Avalonia. New sounds and textures abound, including, most notably, sumptuous string arrangements. Fans eager to learn more about the narrative and its many themes—among them gender dysphoria and the inherent dangers of virtual reality—need not fear, because the band has completed a full-fledged screenplay to support it.
“Within our previous albums, the subject matter, the lyrics are all very personal, based on our experiences—self-centered, even,” Ellis explains. “In making this conceptual album, we had to find ourselves within, or project ourselves into, the principal characters. We developed them, got to know their minds, emotions, and motivations, and then expressed those in nine songs. The songs aren’t demonstrative as in musical theater. Instead, the songs are heated moments, internal expressions that stand on their own.”
Bite:
- Welcome to Avalonia
- Happiness Awaits Inside
- I Believe
- In Destiny
- Different Than
- A Daydream
- Watch Me Sleeping
- Watch It Burn
- In Rainbows
