Legacy post‑punk/shoegaze outfit Lowsunday have returned with "This Is Not Heaven", the first preview of their upcoming Low Sunday Ghost Machine – Black EP, due 15 May via Projekt Records. The accompanying video was produced by Jer Herring. The release marks the second half of the band's "duality", following the Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP.

Originally formed in mid‑1990s Pittsburgh, Lowsunday (initially Low Sunday Ghost Machine) became early "retro‑futurist" pioneers, merging darkwave and shoegaze long before their modern resurgence. Their cult‑favourite albums — the self‑titled debut and 1999's Elesgiem — were reissued by Projekt Records over the past 18 months for their 30th and 25th anniversaries.

Reactivated in 2025 after nearly 25 years of silence, the band now operates as a duo: Shane Sahene (vocals, guitar, synth, bass, drums) and Bobby Spell (bass, guitar, drums).

"'This is Not Heaven' was the last song we recorded for the Black EP. We really enjoyed injecting the heavy synths on the chorus, the asymmetrical guitar leads and the driving bass line beneath an intricate and melodic rhythm guitar", says Shane Sahene.

"We felt this song captured everything we are about in that it hits the refrains with a shoegaze atmosphere, more electronic choruses and lyrical transparency, much less vague than many of our songs… it touches on many aspects of our sound."

Bobby Spell adds, "This was another really enjoyable song to write. The guitar textures and melody lines create a dark song with uplifting sections. The mood shifts in the choruses giving a feeling of brightness or a way out of melancholy".

While the White EP explored brightness and texture, the Black EP represents its darker counterpart — a distilled, more forceful expression of Lowsunday's atmospheric, introspective sound. Link