Wicca Phase Springs Eternal’s “HARDCORE” is a powerful statement of intent

The Gothboiclique co-founder’s new single, produced by Darcy Baylis, is about unashamedly taking what’s yours.

October 21, 2019

On the 2019 LP Suffer On, it felt like the full scope of Scranton, PA musician Adam McIlwee’s Wicca Phase Springs Eternal project had come into view. An earthy and mournful record, it felt like one of the essential documents of the gothic trap subgenre that McIlwee, along with his internet collective Gothboiclique, helped to popularise. Comprising the icy synths and ever-present 808s that typify a lot of GBC’s music, Suffer On also included moments of pure, eerie folk and elegiac pop ballads. As part of the Wicca Phase oeuvre, though, it turns out Suffer On was only the beginning: today, McIlwee releases “HARDCORE,” a compelling, rough-edged departure from the downcast ambience of Suffer On.

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Produced by Melbourne producer and songwriter Darcy Baylis, “HARDCORE” is defiant and clear-eyed, its hook of “never look backwards, never say sorry” working as a kind of statement of intent for the future of the Wicca Phase project. Built around a driving nu-metal guitar loop and clattering hi-hats, it’s a more forceful cut than anything McIlwee has released as Wicca Phase.

"Suffer On was an album about a longing I experienced over the course of several years, and had been saving up to let loose on what i consider my first proper full length release as Wicca Phase,” McIlwee tells The FADER via email. “That longing — hopeless, selfish, melodramatic — has been resolved, and in its place is the will to move forward, take what is mine, and live unashamed of my desires. That is ‘HARDCORE’.” Listen to “HARDCORE” above, and find Wicca Phase Springs Eternal’s upcoming tour dates below.

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Wicca Phase Springs Eternal Tour Dates:
11/02 Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast #
11/03 Manchester, UK @ Yes #
11/04 London, UK @ Scala #
11/05 Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin #
11/07 Borgerhout, BE @ TRIX #
11/09 Benidorm, ES Primavera Weekender 2019 #
11/11 Vienna, AT @ Das Werk #
11/12 Prague, CZ @ Chapeau Rouge #
11/13 Berlin, DE @ Burg Schnabel #
11/14 Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich #
12/06 Brooklyn, NY @ The Kingsland *
12/07 Hartford, CT @ Webster Underground *
12/08 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair Music Hall *
12/10 Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck Bar *
12/11 Lakewood, OH @ Mahall's Locker Room *
12/12 Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary *
12/13 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean *
12/14 Burnsville, MN @ The Garage *
12/15 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon *
12/18 Cincinnati, OH @ Legends *
12/19 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
12/20 Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry *

# w/ Zubin
* w/ Glitterer, Anxious, Creeks

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Wicca Phase Springs Eternal’s “HARDCORE” is a powerful statement of intent