MX Lonely

BIOGRAPHY

In MX LONELY’s world, monsters are multifaceted things. They’re the creatures we used to imagine lurking in the shadows as children; the all-too-real evildoers who abuse their power or line their pockets with suffering; the vices and flaws that we grapple with throughout our lives, and what we can become while under their grip. Even the band’s name comes from synthesist/vocalist Rae Haas’ nickname for a shadowy figure that would haunt them during sleep paralysis. On their debut full-length album ALL MONSTERS, the Brooklyn-based band search dark corners, force open doors and exhume these monsters, via a heavy, murky alt-rock sound that’s equally streaked with beauty.

The band members — Haas, guitarist Jake Harms and bassist Gabriel Garman — originally met at AA meetings, while pursuing various musical projects of their own. Bonding over everything from Pixies, Elliott Smith and Weezer to Chat Pile, Show Me The Body and black midi, they began during the pandemic to work on songs that Harms had written as a solo project. First releasing the album Dog under the name v0idb0ys in 2020, they officially became MX LONELY in 2022, shortly before playing their first show. They continued with the EPs Cadonia in 2022 and SPIT in 2024.

As their first entirely self-recorded release, ALL MONSTERS sees the band capturing a live, immediate, analogue sound which embodies the feeling of their live show, while also creating a more longform and nuanced experience than they have before. In both sound and scope, it’s an unapologetically big album, with its cavernous guitars, soaring vocals and hulking low-end stretching into the longest songs MX LONELY have ever made. They explore lostness and self-sabotage on the opening track “Kill The Candle”; gender dysphoria on the downcast, creeping “Big Hips”; and the thorny knot of addiction and codependency on the dreamy yet resolutely building “Shape Of An Angel.” Meanwhile, on the back half of the record, the grungey ‘90s sound of “Anesthetic” drives a “love song to the addict,” while “Return To Sender” interrogates the impossibility of controlling others’ perceptions. The album closer is the haunting, seven-minute slow-burner “Whispers In The Fog,” which recalls childhood nightmares and superstitions alongside an expulsion of lifelong anxiety.

Having built up their touring credentials over the last few years supporting the likes of The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Trauma Ray, Cryogeyser and Midrift, going forward MX LONELY aim to keep heading out on the road and building a community based on mutual catharsis. They’re also in the process of building a studio which will allow them to both remain in control of their own sound, and invite friends into that community. “This band feels kinda like a family,” Harms says. “I think it’s been a pretty tight family, and as the band grows, we’re hoping to expand that network, and collaborate with people in an easier way.” Though a band committed to introspection, ultimately MX LONELY want to bring others into their world. “I think that’s kind of the manifestation or the prayer in this, is for everyone to be able to have that,” says Haas. “For everyone to have the space and tools to work through their own monsters, and work through each other’s monsters.”