Tidal Volume celebrates a new album and new sounds with the ‘Bedroom Blackout’ Ball

‘For an album centered on themes of mental illness—and a title track that’s based on drinking in isolation to the point of losing consciousness—Tidal Volume’s Bedroom Blackout is a surprisingly joyful affair.

Over the course of its 12 tracks, there’s plenty of heartache and lament, to be sure. But there’s also the allure of the gas station’s soda fountain and the potential it affords for illicit imbibing; appreciations of some of the great fictional characters of the American zeitgeist, from Thomas A. Anderson to Rick Blaine to Peggy Hill; and a closing celebration of “singing songs with my friends ’til the tape runs out,” at which moment it does. Even as a seemingly inescapable sense of loneliness and anxiety permeates the record, singer-songwriter and guitarist Zach Sullentrup can’t help but zero in on the flashes of whimsy and absurdity that modern living affords.

“What I’m interested in as an artist is trying to find the humor in sadness and also trying to find what can be sad about humor,” Sullentrup says. “I feel like I’m always chasing my own tail in that way as a writer.”

Set for physical release on April 25 at the appropriately titled Bedroom Blackout Ball at Off Broadway, Bedroom Blackout is the second full-length album from the long-running St. Louis act, and it’s a suitable snapshot of the band’s evolution since its last, 2022’s Rewrite the Bad Parts. While still an indie-rock act with a knack for arena-sized melodies, this time around, Tidal Volume’s core songwriting team of Sullentrup and keyboardist Will Minard also took inspiration from blues and country. Sullentrup even learned to play the pedal steel.

“I love the sound, and I wanted to find ways to use it in our music, even though our music doesn’t necessarily lend itself to pedal steel naturally, since we aren’t really a country band,” Sullentrup says. “But I’ve always been interested in classic Americana songwriting formats and stuff like that.”

Bedroom Blackout is the first Tidal Volume album to feature drummer Mike Caraffa and bassist Tom O’Connor, who have rounded out the band’s lineup since 2023. Recorded by Jason McEntire at St. Louis’ Sawhorse Studios over the span of a few years, the album also finds a great deal of joy in the interplay between Sullentrup’s guitar parts and Minard’s synth and keyboard lines, which alternate between working together hand in hand and serving as each other’s counterpoints.

“Tightness,” one of the album’s singles and a definite standout, is a fine example. Across its near seven-minute runtime—a record for the normally pop-structure-minded act—Minard’s major-key piano line imparts a lightness that is tugged downward by Sullentrup’s comparatively mournful pedal steel, as the song’s lyrics trace the anxiety that’s found throughout the album: “I’m too blessed to be depressed / Explain the tightness in my chest / I’m too depressed to feel stressed / Save for the tightness in my chest.” Just past the halfway point, the track slides into a bridge/outro that builds into a cacophony of electric guitar and pounding drums, with Minard’s keys and O’Connor’s bass seemingly barely keeping the whole thing from blasting apart at the seams.

READ MORE: The big St. Louis concert list

“I wanted it to sound like how having a panic attack feels to me,” Sullentrup explains. “Some people have told me that they get that vibe from the song, and I do apologize, but that was kind of the goal.”

Elsewhere, and on the other side of the spectrum, is title track, “Bedroom Blackout,” clocking in at a lean 1 minute and 48 seconds. An earworm of a song that similarly references the stress of its protagonist, this hooky pile of driving melodies finds relief in “counting cans in my room ’til I just pass out” rather than sending the listener toward a mental health episode of their own. This push-and-pull pops up across the album and helps keep the songs varied even as they focus on similar themes.

For the Bedroom Blackout Ball, Sullentrup and Co. plan to perform the new album in its entirety, followed by some fan favorites. They’ll be joined by fellow St. Louis acts After Wednesday, Groves, and Front Flip (of which Sullentrup is also a member). Sullentrup is encouraging attendees to dress either in pajamas or formal attire for the evening. 

“We’ve tried to put together an awesome lineup of local bands and just show off some of the other bands in St. Louis who are our friends, but that we’re also excited about,” Sullentrup says. “A celebration of local music is a big part of what we want to do with the show.”

But beyond the album’s debut show, Sullentrup is steadfast in encouraging fans to support this city’s music scene as a whole.

“There’s a lot of great music happening in St. Louis at shows that are often under-attended,” Sullentrup says. “And I think if you’re mad about Ticketmaster pricing, a great way to avoid it is to go to venues that aren’t even Ticketmaster venues, and to spend your money within your own city and with artists within your community. There’s so much talent in St. Louis.”