Captured by Janette Beckman
Ash Newton | March 21st 2025
On February 14, electroclash band and known side project of Glassjaw vocalist Daryl Palumbo released the singles Annulment and Bear the Cross, marking the group’s first new release in 18 years. The two tracks present a divergence from the dance-punk sound the band was previously known for; while still featuring Palumbo’s signature vocal acrobatics, the songs lean less towards The Rapture and more toward Bjork or Nine Inch Nails.
Annulment opens with a stuttering bass riff before expanding into full late-90s alt-pop industrial, complete with an overpowering guitar line that nearly swallows up Palumbo’s voice. Fans of Beating Heart Baby, arguably Head Automatica’s only breakout into the mainstream, will find Palumbo’s performance a departure from the breathy yelping that marked that song’s success. Here, he’s still embodying a sort of visceral and emotive feminine register, but it’s subdued; a far cry from the, well, decadence that carried Decadence.
Where Annulment teases the listener in its opening seconds, Bear the Cross busts the door down with a blast of synth, backed up with more roaring guitars and stings of synthetic horns. The song builds on Annulment’s dark, seductive atmosphere with a hypnotic drumbeat, while Palumbo’s voice suggests a return to form – on the chorus he descends back into his signature, impressive wail.
Following the release of the singles, Head Automatica announced its appearance on the lineup of Warped Tour Orlando in an Instagram post on the 26th. Two days later, they announced their appearance at the Great South Bay Music Festival.
Over on TikTok, the band’s verified account has begun posting regularly, reviving old clips from music videos and live shows. On March 1st, they posted a photograph of Gerard Way appearing onstage with Head Automatica, with a caption noting that Way performed backup vocals on the song Graduation from their second album, Popaganda. Only one comment under the post garnered an official response – one user requested that Head Automatica open for My Chemical Romance’s Black Parade tour stop in Boston. For their suggestion, they got a smirking emoji.
With multiple festival appearances slated for 2025, two new singles, and a resurgence of internet activity, Head Automatica definitely seems to be building up to something. We can only know in time whether it’s a tour, an album, or nothing at all.
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