If you allow something to grow organically, you might be surprised at the results – this goes for every aspect of life, human or otherwise. Creative endeavors are no different in that regard. Where people get together to engage in a passionate exchange of ideas without any prior expectations, fantastic things can take shape, especially if those ideas are nurtured by a diverse background of thoughts and experiences. One such case is the international experimental rock project This House, which grew from the collaboration between vocalist G.W. Sok and guitarist Ignacio Córdoba.
Back in 2024, Sok (of The Ex fame) and renowned producer Córdoba joined forces on Is This A House, an album marked by a fierce experimentalist spirit. They now filled out their ranks with drummer Søren Høi and synthesist Kristian Tangvik to form This House, and the results are staggering. Between associative sprechgesang vocals, angular riffs, polyrhythmic drumming, and dense electronics, This House can go toe-to-toe with legendary acts like This Heat and Deerhoof without raising any objections. Post-punk and noise rock are obvious touchstones, but their intrepid cross-genre examinations are too delicious to be confined to singular descriptors.
Rhythm is the key that unlocks the puzzle behind this enigmatic new project, and poetry is what you find hidden inside. As guitars snarl and buzz and swirl around the mix, it truly is the drums and Sok’s inimitable vocal delivery that make This House‘s sound so hypnotic. You don’t need to take my word for it, either, as we’re glad to premiere “Man Joke”, the first single off their upcoming album Soft Rains Will Come today!
“Man Joke” plays out like a Motorik spoken word fever dream. Høi’s drums strike a singular unpredictable pulse that subtly channels This Heat drummer Charles Hayward, providing a repetitive but challenging foundation for the other elements. The lyrics evoke images of a failing relationship, anchored in the experience of a particularly fateful breakfast. This scenario was inspired by Jacques Prévert’s 1945 poem Déjeuner du matin. Agitation grows as the song’s pervasive repetition fuels a unique dynamic that twitches towards utter chaos.
The accompanying video, directed by Córdoba himself, ‘visualizes the poem’s themes of human nature and power dynamics‘; these are expressed mainly through erratic movement and snippets from scientific journals. Together with the music, these visuals create a vortex of words and sounds and images, swirling swirling swirling until all that’s left is rhythm and a dream.
This House will release their début record Soft Rains Will Come on March 20, 2026 via Pink Cotton Candy Records, in collaboration with Ramble Records and Red Wig. No pre-order link is available as of writing this premiere, but you can follow the band on Bandcamp to be among the first to find out when this changes. Keep an eye on their social media (Instagram | BlueSky) in the meantime, as they’re bound to release more singles and other information before the album drops.
