Released August 21, Midnight Peg’s new single “Swallow” detonates with raw emotional excavation, offering a first glimpse into their upcoming sophomore album, “Skinning,” set to release October 3.
The track opens in a dreamlike hush, ambient and disquieting. Then, in a moment, chaos pours in: guitars drenched in feedback, drums hammering, Raquel “Rocky” Mann’s vocals lashing out in rapid-fire bursts of anguish and anger. The effect is hypnotic and jarring — an auditory gut punch rooted in emotional repression, alienation, and grief.
Recorded by Rob Lawless and Cody Blakely, mixed and co-produced by Blakely at Half Stack Studios, and mastered by Stuart McKillop at Rain City Recorders, “Swallow” follows the singles “Thirstland” and “The Hag,” pushing Midnight Peg’s chaotic, experimental energy to new extremes.
Midnight Peg have steadily cemented themselves as a vital force in Canada’s underground scene. Their debut, “Horn Colic,” gained traction with over 20,000 streams, critical nods from DIY Conspiracy, Cups N’ Cakes, and Reverie Mag, plus college radio airplay across the country. Live, they’ve shared stages with Pussy Riot and D.O.A., oscillating between riotous punk aggression and avant-garde post-punk atmospherics.
If you’re into Drug Church, Amyl and the Sniffers, Deftones, Turnstile, and others in that punk/post-hardcore space, Midnight Peg is dialed in.
As RANGE puts it: the band “nods to the fury of early ’90s grunge greats like The Gits while racing ahead on a futuristic bullet train of their own design… pulse-pounding.”
With the album “Skinning” set to be released October 3, “Swallow” feels like a mission statement: dangerous, urgent and unrelenting. The album features design and art by Virgil Crude and Mann herself. The creation process is rooted in the Treaty 6 Territory, honoring the nêhiyawak (Cree), Anishinaabe, Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Dene, Nakota Sioux, and other Indigenous Peoples whose land shapes the space of this work.
On paper, “Swallow” is another aggressive single, but in reality it’s a signal flare. It clarifies that Midnight Peg are pushing boundaries, inviting listeners into their turbulent world, and demanding full attention. It’s visceral, it’s unhinged and it excites you the moment it begins.
