The Best Band You’ve Never Heard: True Widow, lurking in the Texan shadows
It’s a story we’ve encountered many times; some bands exist in a distinctive space outside the constantly shifting zeitgeist and never truly get the plaudits they deserve. While this has much to do with treading a path dictated by their own unique artistic vision, this inherent spiritual respectability breeds a wickedly ironic reality. One outfit that encapsulates this more than most are rock innovators, True Widow.
They were formed as a trio in 2007 in Dallas, Texas. Comprised of vocalist and guitarist Dan Phillips, bassist and vocalist Nicole Estill and drummer Timothy ‘Slim’ Starks, they have released four albums to date: their self-titled 2008 debut, 2011’s High As the Highest Heavens and From the Center to the Circumference of the Earth, 2013’s Circumabulation and their most recent, 2016’s Avvolgere.
Before forming True Widow, Phillips was the lead vocalist and guitarist of Dallas punk outfit Slowride. Following their split, he took a break from music and moved from his native Lone Star State to Boston, Massachusetts, where he threw himself into wood art. A true artist, he would express his creativity in different formats in New England, and gradually, his noodlings on the guitar would form a collection of new sonic material.
From there, he returned to Dallas and decided to get a band together to bring the new songs to life. Aided by Estill and Starks, they formed True Widow and soon cultivated a distinctive sound. Characterised by unhurried music, de-tuned but melodic guitars, and the dovetailing vocals of Phillips and Estill, the group described their music as “stonegaze”, which only partially accounts for their scope.
True Widow sounds like True Widow, and that is it. They might have pulled from places that are relatively discernible in their music, but what they do with the respective blueprints in making them their own is one of their ultimate triumphs. Phillips’ de-tuned guitar, weaponising just the right amount of reverb and delay, is noted for forgoing distortion pedals in light of his humbuckers’ sheer volume and sensitivity. This innovative, almost minimalist approach creates a palette that stands out in the pantheon of the most notable de-tuned sludge masters, from a stoner icon such as Sleep’s Matt Pike to people of the heavier end of shoegaze like Deafheaven’s Kerry McCoy, two environments the band are apparently inextricable from.
The deftness of the bass and drums reinforces Phillips. The latter is essential to the band’s overall sound, as they are never overdone, with Starks’ approach austere and stripped back, serving only to accentuate the quality of the music and the percussive slant of both guitar and bass. This, in addition to the drifting vocal melodies, sees the trio suspend themselves in the liminal space between darkness and light.
Their biggest song, ‘Four Teeth,’ is a distillation of this potent convergence of opposites, as are more immediate numbers such as ‘Duelist’ and ‘Skull Eyes’. Yet, elsewhere, their propensity to toy with more full-frontal evil is more all-encompassing, as the crawling and slowly-building ‘Sunday Driver’ from their debut or the amped-up ‘Back Shredder’ from Avvolgere are.
A slow-burning mass of air stoking conflicting emotions, it seems strange that True Widow are so overlooked. After all, they are by no means an unknown entity, as they’ve toured with Boris, Kurt Vile, Trail of Dead, Surfer Blood, and most recently, in October 2023, the widely influential Unwound. Such a broad pull makes it strange that they remain so cultish.
Of course, this has to do with the sound, which the uninitiated would call niche, but it’s not just that. You could also attribute this to the fact that their debut – arguably their finest effort – was released quietly on Texas indie End Sounds, and their second album was much the same on the New York metal label Kemado Records. Still, their two most recent studio full-lengths were released on the popular indie Relapse Records, a label home to many acts you might call spiritually aligned, whether it be Cloakroom, Nothing or even doom merchants Yob.
It also has to do with release activity. Their last album arrived eight years ago, with the band continuing to play since then, leaving fans gasping for new material in light of the extensive passage of time. Phillips appeared to tease new music on social media in January 2024, with it seeming that True Widow might be gearing up to add another chapter to their story, but there’s no natural way of telling. There’s no doubt that it’s cult-like behaviour from the trio, though. They do what they want.
Ultimately, though some bands aren’t cut out to be the Metallicas or Red Hot Chili Peppers of the world, that doesn’t make them any less significant. Their dedication to doing something outside the traditional frame, with actual value, makes them so lauded.
