Over nearly two decades together, Brooklyn’s Dub Trio — Stu Brooks [bass], DP Holmes [guitar], and Joe Tomino [drums]—not only delivered a string of albums that forever redefined the term “dub” under cover of metal, punk, alternative, and shoegaze, but also infused its musical prowess into the studio recordings and the shows of genre-bending icons ranging from Mike Patton to Lady Gaga. Today, Dub Trioannounces the April 26 release of The Shape of Dub To Come, the band’s fifth full-length and first release for New Damage Records.

An homage to titles such as The Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come and Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come, The Shape of Dub To Come’s groove hinges on slower stoner-inspired sludge riffing. The space allowed the dub to flourish. “We got comfortable with the space,” adds Tomino. “We could let it breathe and let it go, one step at a time. Even though we hadn’t necessarily been that sludgy in the past, it made room for the dub.”

Elsewhere, “Life Signs” borders on dark industrial with its glitchy electronic swells, and “Spider” crawls with a menacing intensity. At the center, “Forget My Name Dub [feat. Meshell Ndegeocello]” emanates soothing transmissions from the vocal phenomenon upheld by forward-facing reggae rhythms and sparse production. It personifies the title, The Shape of Dub To Come.

The three-piece introduced itself on 2004’s “live-dub experiment” Exploring the Dangers Of followed by successors New Heavy [2006], Another Sound Is Dying [2008], and IV [2011]. Conjuring up instrumental music hummable enough to sing, praise came from the likes of Pitchfork who predicted, “Dub Trio are on to something.” Along the way, the guys served as Peeping Tom’s live band and toured alongside everyone from Clutch to Gogol Bordello and Dillinger Escape Plan.

However, the band took a hiatus as a collective in 2015 after touring heavily behind IV. Having an impact on various genres, they served as the backing band on the Lady Gaga demos that famously attracted the attention of Interscope in addition to backing Matisyahu for six years. Brooks received a GRAMMY® Award nomination for his work with Pretty Lights in addition to backing Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® Inductee Dr. John on the road. During 2018, he played bass in the Saturday Night Live Band sharing the stage with the likes of Kanye West and Kid Cudi. Moreover, he is the musical director and bassist for the GRiZ Live Band alongside Tomino. Additionally, Tomino hit the kit for The Fugees as Holmes lent his six-string talents to Mos Def, Common, and more in the studio. Members shuffled around the country with Holmes in North Carolina and Tomino in Cleveland before regrouping for a European tour in 2017.

“We were a dub/reggae band, and we started implementing what we thought was cool from The Refused and bands like that,” explains Brooks. “The Shape of Dub To Come describes our whole method; applying dub as a process to virtually any style of music. The future of dub doesn’t have to be just reggae. It’s a process rather than a genre.”

In the end, Dub Trio are awake and staring into a bright future.

“These songs come together like chapters of a book,” Tomino leaves off. “It’s an auditory snapshot of the individuals and the collective—where we were and where we are. It’s a big arc that spans everything from our roots to metal and ambient electronic music. It’s a big picture of little snapshots.”

“We hope you listen to the whole thing from start to finish,” concludes Brooks. “It takes you on a journey and tells a story. Hopefully, you end up in a different place at the end. We certainly did.”

Pre-order The Shape of Dub To Come and listen to “World of Inconvenience [feat. King Buzzo]” via your favorite DSP HERE.

May 09 – Washington, DC @ DC9
May 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
May 11 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
May 12 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
May 14 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus
May 16 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Saint
May 17 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
May 18 – East Durham, NY @ Flyday Music Festival