Worm School's Debut Single "Jacob's Ladder"

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Following two years of honing their live sound playing in and around Manchester with the likes of TTSSFU, Bedroom Vacation & Thistle, Worm School are releasing their debut single ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ through cult label Crafting Room Recordings. It may be their first single, but shoegaze royalty have already attached their name to it. Recorded with Ben Easton (Deary) and Dom Freeman, and mastered by Simon Scott (Slowdive), the track features spacious and dreamy production.

Combining expansive guitar with ascending bass and hushed vocals, the track slowly builds from ambient beginnings into stratospheric shoegaze. Like an ascent into the clouds above, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ takes the listener on a journey of self reflection; allowing them to immerse themselves in sonic meditation. On the inspiration behind the name for the single, Worm School say:

‘The name ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ came from Liv’s Cornish roots. It’s named after an infamous flight of stairs in Falmouth. The slow delay on the main guitar line felt like a kind of stairway into something beyond. The whole song came together quickly, and pretty soon became a favourite to play live. We think the name ties together the different parts of the Worm School sound – soft and fragile but also epic and atmospheric.’

On the lyrics of Jacob’s Ladder, Worm School say:

‘The idea was that the words are being whispered to you by a mindfulness app, with a kind of predatory sympathy. Like most of our songs, the lyrics evolved gradually after mumbling some random phrases into the mic and feeling our way through it. The song originally had two verses - the second verse’s lyrics were written the day before we went into the recording studio - but we edited it down after agreeing that the world might not be ready for nine minutes’ worth of Worm School heaven, just yet..’

Unearthed at the tail end of 2022, Worm School writhe between melodic, ghostly dream pop and reverb-drenched walls of sound, swirling guitar and sparkling synth lines. Based in Manchester, Worm school comprises Will Davis (drums, vox), Dan Beach (guitar, vox), Jordan McGuffie (bass) and Liv Du Val (synth, vox).