SPLIT CHAIN REVEAL DETAILS OF DEBUT ALBUM ‘MOTIONBLUR’

Photo: Ashlea Bea

Split Chain just keeps rising—and now they’re making it official. The band has announced their debut album motionblur, dropping July 11 via Epitaph. It features the previously released “I’m Not Dying To Be Here” and their brand-new single “bored. tired. torn.” The new track leans hard into their signature blend of Y2K emo, shoegaze haze, and grungy edge. Frontman Bert Martinez-Cowles shares some insight into the song’s meaning:

‘bored.tired.torn’ explores the difficulty and pain of growing up in a broken childhood home. Thematically the song centers on whether or not someone should have to deal with the shit they’re dealt by relatives just because they’re family. The song is a declaration against that, and tries to positively convey the message that nobody has to put up with it just because they’re share blood with the people hurting them. Don’t feel bound to it just because society would expect you to, always make the best decision for yourself regardless of what anybody else makes of it. You’ll be grateful you did.

Speaking on the album as a whole, Bert describes it as “a record that reminds you it’s okay to be your true, authentic self. It’s the story of everything we’ve been through and who we’ve become because of it. You can either let your experiences define you, or you can carve out your own path. You have the power to be whoever you want to be. If there’s one message I hope listeners take away from this album, it’s that.”

Bassist Tom Davies adds:

motionblur is as much a coming-of-age story as it is a celebration of our adolescence and the things that defined us. We wanted to encapsulate the feelings of angst and isolation that so many struggle with growing up—but just as importantly, we wanted to honor the things that shaped us: the lifestyles, the music, and the pop culture that became part of our identity.

This album is an amalgamation of our individual and collective experiences. While its themes can be dark, at its core, ‘motionblur’ is about resilience—about making it through without letting those experiences weigh you down. It was crucial for us to create an album that felt like a cohesive piece of art while still being sonically diverse. We wanted to capture the feeling of growing up in an era when albums were more than just collections of songs—they were experiences, meant to be played from start to finish, over and over again.

SPLIT CHAIN TOUR DATES:
April 24 – Pittsburgh, PA – Preserving Underground w/ Teenage Wrist
April 25 – Louisville, KY – LDB Festival
April 26 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade w/ Silverstein
April 27 – Orlando, FL – Will’s Pub
April 29 – Raleigh, NC – Kings
April 30 – Washington, DC – Union Stage
May 1 – Philadelphia, PA – Foto Club
May 2 – New Jersey W/ Better Lovers
May 3 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck
4 May – Clinton, MI – Edgemen
May 6 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
May 7 – Columbus, OH – Ace Of Cups