After six long years, Pelican—Chicago’s titans of instrumental heaviness—return with Flickering Resonance, a record that pulses with both crushing weight and luminous clarity. Released via Run For Cover Records, this new full-length marks a triumphant homecoming: it’s the first album since 2009 to feature founding guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec, rekindling the original chemistry that made Pelican a cornerstone of the post-metal scene.
Reunited with Trevor Shelley de Brauw, and rhythm section stalwarts Bryan and Larry Herweg, the band channels the scrappy DIY energy of their Fireside Bowl origins—where hardcore, post-rock, doom, and indie all collided in sweaty, genre-agnostic lineups. That legacy echoes throughout the album’s eight tracks, not as nostalgia, but as foundation: a launchpad for a deeper, more emotionally resonant sound.
Still recorded with longtime producer Sanford Parker, the Pelican core remains unmistakable—massive guitar tone, tectonic bass, thunderous drums—but here, the heaviness feels more introspective than ever. Tracks like “Pining For Ever” and “Indelible” balance lumbering doom riffs with an aching vulnerability, as if Explosions in the Sky were dropped into a slow-motion pit. There’s a melodic clarity woven through the distortion, revealing a band unafraid to explore earnestness alongside enormity.
The standout single, “Cascading Crescent,” is pure Pelican alchemy: it opens in full thunder—like the band’s earlier City of Echoes era—before unexpectedly lifting into a radiant burst of melody that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Mineral record. It’s a celebration of light in the shadow, proof that even their heaviest moments shimmer with beauty.
Flickering Resonance isn’t just a comeback—it’s a reawakening. Pelican sound like a band remembering why they started, and reimagining where they can go next.
Tickets are on sale now for their upcoming summer tour, launching July 17 in Cleveland and hitting Brooklyn, DC, Toronto, and beyond—before a victory lap at Chicago’s Thalia Hall. Catch them where they belong: onstage, in full roar.