Orindal

CLAIRE CRONIN- The Bruise ORD-95

Release date: October 9, 2026

File Under:
folk horror /American spiritual dread / heavy music / slowcore / nocturnal mothers / uncanny atmospheres / transcendence / hauntology / family curses / sincerity / diabolus in music / experimental doom / negative theology / childbirth / hymns

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Old radios. Ritual bells. A cawing crow. A mother singing in the darkness. These figures haunt The Bruise—the new album of heavy folk songs from musician and writer Claire Cronin.

Her third release on Orindal Records after Big Dread Moon (2019) and Bloodless (2021), and crafted in the same spirit as her cult-favorite book, Blue Light of the Screen: On Horror, Ghosts, and God (2020), The Bruise is an immersive sequel in Cronin’s brand of folk horror.

Inspired by the atmospheres of doom metal and the spectral, disintegrating layers of avant-garde drone music, The Bruise is evocative and textured, but still centered on Cronin’s voice and guitar. Vocals are tripled with eerie harmonies, like sad angels singing. Electric guitars are bent to sound like old radio transmissions. The warm, spiritual hum of a harmonium spills across tracks. An Irish bodhrán keeps time at loose intervals. Musical saws, ritual bells, and violas make the weather that Cronin’s voice wades through.

Field recordings also offer an aura. Hidden beneath the surface are priests chanting at a nearby church, the sound of digging in the backyard, a cawing crow, and Cronin’s infant daughter, suckling and sighing herself to sleep.

The record marks a deeper collaboration between Cronin and Ezra Buchla—Cronin’s husband and musical partner, whose background in classical viola and noise inform the project. Buchla performed strings, guitars, percussion, piano and electronics; whispered bass harmonies; and recorded and mixed the album in the couple’s home in Berkeley, California. He will be co-releasing The Bruise as a cassette on his new music and technology label, A Moth Object.

Other contributions come from Julia Holter on harmonium; Tashi Wada on synth; John Dieterich on synth; Jeffrey Byron on percussion; and Mark Wessels on musical saw. The songs on The Bruise were captured mostly at home and in brief studio visits to Los Angeles and Oakland over the past two years. The making of the album was interrupted by the birth of Cronin and Buchla’s second child—an experience that colors the recording.

Many things are familiar on this record: folk instruments, fragments of a Christmas song, a chorus of toy pianos and xylophones. But Cronin isn’t playing old traditionals; she’s made the familiar strange through her own intensely emotional laments. The result feels both contemporary and ancient.

On The Bruise, a mother sings into the night, and the boundaries between generations start to blur. History begins to rhyme. The relics of childhood become the weapons of adulthood. Yet despite its emotional weight, The Bruise reaches for transcendence. A moon reflected brightly in a black glass.

The Bruise will be released October 9, 2026 on Orindal Records and A Moth Object.

Tracks

  1. Black Water (6:19)
  2. Before the End of Time (5:38)
  3. There Was No Sound (5:08)
  4. Silent Night (5:36)
  5. Poison Arrow (3:43)
  6. Save a Little Hell (4:28)
  7. Iris in Pyre (4:28)
  8. Wait in Nothing (4:58)
  9. House in the Pines (5:12)

    10. Credits

      All songs written by Claire Cronin.

      Performance credits:
      Claire Cronin: vocals and guitar on all songs, bells (9), field recordings (6, 7, 9)
      Ezra Buchla: viola (1, 2, 5, 6), violin (2, 5), vocals (1, 7), synth (1, 7), percussion (5, 9), tenor guitar (6), baritone guitar (6, 8), bass (6, 7), piano (1, 3), toy piano (3), chimes (3), processing throughout
      Julia Holter: harmonium (3, 7)
      Mark Wessels: musical saw (2, 9)
      Tashi Wada: synth (3)
      Jeff Byron: percussion (3)
      Ami Radunskaya: cello (6)
      John Dieterich: synth (5, 8), processing (5)

      Mixed by Ezra Buchla. Mastered by Matthew Barnhart.

      Claire’s main vocal and guitar were recorded at home in Berkeley, CA, except on “Black Water” and “Wait in Nothing,” which were recorded at Verdugo Sound in Los Angeles, and “Silent Night,” which was recorded at Santo Recording in Oakland. All of these recordings were made between 2024 - 2026. Thanks to Ryan Cronin for album cover design assistance.

      Pressing Information

      Vinyl edition
      400 high quality, 140g vinyl LPs in extra heavyweight, full color, matte finish jackets. Risograph printed insert. Design by Claire Cronin. 9 tracks, 45 minutes.

      200 copies on iridescent gold-colored vinyl
      200 copies on classic black vinyl

      Vinyl manufactured by Smashed Plastic in Chicago, IL.
      Jackets printed by Stoughton Printing in City of Industry, CA.
      Inserts printed by Issue Press in Grand Rapids, MI.

      The Bruise classic black vinyl distributed by The Business & Revolver / Midheaven.

      Lyrics + Art zine
      5x8 booklet of handwritten album lyrics & 3-color illustrations by Claire Cronin, featuring a crying nun, nuclear bombs, a mansion on fire, a flag on fire, kissing, and a statue that comes to life. 20 pages, saddle bound with black staples.

      Risograph printing by Issue Press.

      Tapes available from A Moth Object