Austin glam-punk quintet A Giant Dog are excited to announce their sixth album—an ambitious concept album titled Bite—due August 25, 2023, 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.
The moment the needle drops on Bite, one’s conception of what an A Giant Dog record sounds like bends like space and time around a starship running at lightspeed.
The biggest point of departure is that Bite is a concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia. You’re thrown into it quickly, as a calm, robotic voice says, “Welcome to Avalonia, happiness awaits inside” over a crushing synth line that segues into an opulent string arrangement.
A GIANT DOG
BITE
(Merge Records)
Release date: August 25, 2023
TRACKLIST
Welcome to Avalonia
Happiness Awaits Inside
I Believe
In Destiny
Different Than
A Daydream
Watch Me Sleeping
Watch It Burn
In Rainbows
