One Way Out announces Album Release/Tour

On August 13th, young Washington, D.C. natives One Way Out take their energetic live show on the road to release their brand new album The Sun, The Moon, The Truth. The Sun, The Moon, The Truth Tour will pass through eight east coast cities, bringing the band back at full force after their shows were put to a halt during the pandemic. After touring with Soraia of Steven Van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records in 2019 and being nominated for Best Hard Rock Artist in D.C. alongside names like Clutch before most members had turned 18, One Way Out returned to the studio with producer Ben Green of Fairweather (Equal Vision) to record The Sun, The Moon, The Truth, which will be available to stream everywhere on August 20th.

The Sun, The Moon, The Truth tour begins in New York City on August 13th before continuing on to New London, Providence, Boston, the band’s hometown Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Richmond. The tour commemorates the release of the band’s sophomore studio album, The Sun, The Moon, The Truth. The album combines the band’s eclectic influences including classic rock, punk, blues, jazz, neo-psychedelia, and hip hop to create one multifaceted work that never rests on one sound for too long before moving on to the next. Singles “Black Lungs (and a Broken Heart)”, “Red”, and “Candy” -- which was recently placed in the New York Times’ Summer 2021 Playlist -- , exemplify this, moving seamlessly from space rock freak out to bluesy pandemic anthem to gritty garage-punk madness respectively. And these just scratch the surface. Throughout the rest of the album, the guys take on numerous other sounds including improvised psychedelic jams, stoner rock, progressive, folk, and jazz. This all plays into a central theme of the album: to take a step back and see the world as a nuanced whole rather than observing only one side of a story. In addition to using various musical styles and energies to convey this theme, the band also uses their lyrics to explore the same stories from multiple angles. “Liquid Paradise” and “Candy” tell of the sweetest highs and most sour lows of a relationship, and “The Groove Inside My Mind” shifts from a criticism of others’ dishonest appearances to a realization of the narrator’s similar flaws, while “Black Lungs (and a Broken Heart)”, “Cold Brew Cóffee”, and “The Moon/The Truth” continue the tale of recurring One Way Out character the Freedom Man from his euphoria-causing arrival on Earth to his rocky past and bright aspirations.

A fourth single, “Slow Walk”, will be released on August 13th, combining the mellowness of a piano ballad with the shrieking vocals and searing guitars that have become a staple of One Way Out’s sound. Lead singer and lyricist for the tune Josh Gaba delivers an intimate performance, setting a gloomy scene with the opening line “Slow walk / I can’t wait to be alone” before belting into the song’s hook, “I’ll wait for you.” The single’s release coincides with One Way Out’s tour kickoff in New York City, the first stop before the band reaches Providence, Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, and hometown Washington, D.C. After nearly a year and a half bereft of live performances, the young band is bursting out of the pandemic with their most extensive touring yet.

One Way Out burst onto the D.C. music scene in 2017 -- while members were in 7th, 8th, and 10th grade -- quickly immersing themselves in the local community of music lovers. By going to as many all ages shows as they could find, they met the D.C. bands and musicians who they would eventually be putting together shows with in local clubs. It was through these connections that they met producer Ben Green of Ivakota Recording on Capitol Hill, known for producing records by artists such as Ex Hex, Oh He Dead, and Benjy Ferree as well as for his own band, Fairweather. After teaming up with Green, One Way Out recorded their debut album Cosmic Beat. By 2019, the high-schoolers were headlining and filling D.C. stages including Rock & Roll Hotel, DC9, and Union Stage, receiving nominations for the Washington Area Music Awards (Wammies), and even touring with Philadelphia rockers Soraia, who are signed to Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Record label. Wanting to ride their momentum, drummer and then-senior in high school Geist Topping elected to take a gap year, which the band used to write their next album until plans were thrown askew by the pandemic. The pandemic gave the band time to refine and finish the album remotely during singer Josh Gaba, bassist Giulio Iacoviello, and keyboardist Ari Rubenstein’s senior years. Once vaccine rollout began, they jumped at the opportunity to book an east coast tour in support of the album before members went to college in the fall.

Despite the members’ diverging paths, One Way Out is optimistic about their future. “It’ll take some effort, but I’m confident we’ll be able to continue the band remotely,” projects guitarist Jake Schaefer. “Over the last few years, we’ve been able to play nightclubs as teenagers and finish an album without being able to be in the same room as one another, so I think that even with less than ideal conditions, we’ve been able to keep this band moving.”

One Way Out is a rock band from Washington D.C. known for their eclectic style; a meld of classic and blues-inspired late 60s/early 70s rock with progressive elements inspired by metal, hard rock, and jazz. The band also takes on the aggression of punk emanating from the local DC scene and the philosophies of more modern acts, such as King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Oh Sees, and Tame Impala. One Way Out has received six finalist nominations at the Wammies (Washington Area Music Awards) for Best Rock Album, Best Hard Rock Album, Best Hard Rock Artist, and Best Hard Rock Song.