Rochester, New York trio Glasswaves are turning up the pressure with “Swarm.ING_,” the latest single from their forthcoming debut album, (while)True, arriving October 23 via SharpTone Records.
Built around vocals from Noah Rich, guitar from Owen Miller and bass from Brendan Curtis, Glasswaves have carved out a sound that refuses to sit comfortably in one genre. Dark pop, alternative rock, electronic textures and heavier metalcore influences all find their way into the band’s increasingly ambitious material.
“Swarm.ING_” might be one of their clearest examples yet.
The song has an unsettling sense of momentum from the opening moments, balancing atmospheric passages against a much heavier edge. There is a definite nu-metal influence here, but Glasswaves don’t simply lean into nostalgia. They take that foundation and push it through their own darker, more electronic sound.
Rich describes the track as being about something taking over your mind, feeding from you until you realize that you are actually the thing consuming yourself. That idea runs throughout the song, with the lyrics circling themes of losing control, uncertainty and the struggle to hold onto some sense of yourself.
The repeated plea to stay conscious and keep part of the self alive gives the track its emotional center, while the increasingly intense imagery surrounding the “swarm” makes the song feel like an internal battle rather than a straightforward rock track.
And judging by the reaction already showing up under the band’s YouTube video, listeners are picking up on the energy.
Comments range from calling the track a “sonic boom” and “absolute FIRE” to fans simply celebrating the band’s return. One listener summed up the mood with, “WE ARE SO BACK,” while another suggested there is considerably more going on beneath the surface than the single initially reveals.
That’s probably the point.
“Swarm.ING_” isn’t designed to give everything away on the first listen. It feels like another piece of a much larger story.
That story takes place inside (while)True, where the fictional medical technology company Liminal-Neuro is experimenting with a drug called Neuro Veil in an attempt to understand and treat trauma, addiction and obsession. Things go badly when an ancient entity known as The Veil emerges, taking the form of its victims’ deepest desires and turning those desires against them.
It’s an ambitious concept for a debut record, and Glasswaves aren’t treating it like window dressing.
The album’s 12 tracks continue the story through titles such as “FALSE_glow:”, “Saving[face]”, “fvck.me.up”, “(D:)rive”, “doomed:2:DIE”, “SCARed”, “PR3SSURE” and “://WishIDidn’t”. Even the track listing feels deliberately constructed to fit the technological and psychological world the band has created.
Glasswaves spent much of 2026 developing (while)True with producer Justin Spaulding, working between Atlanta and New York while also collaborating remotely through Discord. Their influences stretch from The Neighbourhood and Tame Impala to The Plot In You, Sace6 and Bring Me The Horizon, which goes a long way toward explaining why the band’s sound can shift so quickly between atmospheric alternative music and something considerably heavier.
With “Swarm.ING_,” Glasswaves have found a track that sits right in the middle of that collision.
It’s dark, unpredictable and heavy when it needs to be, but there is enough melody and atmosphere underneath the aggression to keep the song from becoming one-dimensional.
If this is a preview of what (while)True has in store, Glasswaves aren’t simply releasing a debut album. They’re building an entire world around it.
(while)True arrives October 23 via SharpTone Records.
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