[as seen on Paste]

Nashville post-hardcore quartet Shell of a Shell share their emotionally fraught new single with Paste today (Jan. 30), “Away Team,” from their forthcoming debut LP of the same name due out Feb. 28 via Exploding in Sound Records.

Shell of a Shell is perhaps the most personal endeavor of frontman Chappy Hull, who also plays in deliciously raucous bands Pile and Gnarwhal. Away Team will no doubt flex Hull’s introspective songwriting instincts. “Away Team,” for example, is a devastating gleam of pre-apocalyptic anxieties that are definitely not exclusive to cult members at this juncture in time.

“This one is about a fictional woman in Heaven’s Gate having second thoughts before the day they were supposed to go on the comet,” Hull tells Paste. “The Away Team was what they called the group in the cult who were supposed to be reborn on Hale-Bopp while others stayed and were going to have another chance later in life. When I learned about Heaven’s Gate it was hard not to try to imagine myself in that tragic scenario and what would be going through my head, brain-washed or not.”

Shell of a Shell’s previous endeavor was the EP Already There, which was equal parts rhythmically controlled and bursting with untamable energy. Their first single for Away Team, “Knock,” was released earlier this month.

Check out the Paste-exclusive track below, then see if Shell of a Shell will be stopping by your city on their tour. You can preorder Away Team.