Military Genius is the project of songwriter/producer Bryce Cloghesy, also of Crack Cloud. Today, the artist has shared new single “Window to the Soul,” the track is off his forthcoming album Scarred for Life, available November 1st via Unheard of Hope/Tin Angel. “Window to the Soul” reflects on trauma and its after-effects, exploring how the past can distort and reshape the present,” he says. “Attempting to explain what has happened takes us further away from understanding. Like looking through curved glass, each perspective reshapes and challenges our notion of objective truth. This life is a house of mirrors, and sometimes getting lost is the point. In that moment of desperation, logic is irrelevant. All that is left is feeling.” The track follows previous single “Darkest Hour.”

Military Genius will embark on a headlining tour of the UK and Europe this fall, including a show at London’s Sebright Arms on November 7th and a performance at the Netherlands’ Le Guess Who? Festival on November 9th.

The album’s title refers to a gruesome episode in Cloghesy’s life in 2012, when he had a near-death experience after falling through a window. “I tore up my left arm real good and never slowed down to process the trauma,” he says. Add a debilitating series of panic attacks and depressive episodes to the charge sheet—followed by several significant life changes like a move from Canada to California, getting married, and becoming a father—and it’s clear the record has a lot of heavy lifting to do. “It took some time to realize that I had been working tirelessly for years, white-knuckling life without any tools to process stress or trauma. So there are many lyrics about that mental health journey, learning to cope and accept,” Cloghesy explains. He found “a powerful catharsis putting these experiences into words,” and the music reflects and celebrates a greater understanding and appreciation of how life can be lived.

Cloghesy faced his creative crosswords by embracing raw acoustic sounds and a ‘human-first’ approach to the recording process. Ideas were formulated and initially recorded onto cassette tape with minimal editing. Blemishes and artifacts were welcomed, adding to the record’s realism and personal character. “I found excitement in creating something naturalistic and hand-made, flawed by its own humanity,” he says. Cloghesy describes the process as “extremely dogmatic and physically demanding but worth it, as something really passionate, poetic, and romantic came out in the final recordings.”

Military Genius 2024 Tour Dates:

11/03 – Glasgow, UK – Garage Attic
11/04 – Birmingham, UK – Hare and Hounds
11/05 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
11/07 – London, UK – Sebright Arms
11/09 – Utrecht, NL – Le Guess Who? Festival
11/10 – Amsterdam, NL – Cinetol
11/11 – Berlin, DE – Silent Green
11/13 – Jena, DE – TRAFO
11/15 – Prague, CZ – NoD

Pre-order Scarred For Life HERE