New York City’s halfway up a jagged hill is stepping into a new chapter. The Brooklyn duo has officially signed with Vinegar Hill Sound Records and announced their debut album, HUAJH, arriving September 10, 2026. Pre-orders are available now, and fans can get their first taste of the record with the newly released single, “Obscure Sorrows.”
The track plunges listeners into a world of crushing riffs, blast beats, and emotional reckoning. Inspired by John Koenig’s The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, the song explores feelings that defy easy definition. “The song is ultimately about releasing your despair and not being held captive by it,” explain longtime friends and bandmates Devin Gilbert and Jeb Polstein. Fittingly, it also marks their first foray into blast beats.
Known for their powerful live shows, halfway up a jagged hill has spent the past year building momentum across New York’s rock scene while quietly previewing material from the album.
Born from a chance encounter with a mysterious “witch hut” in the woods, the band channels darkness, wonder, and hard-won resilience into a sound that sits somewhere between metal, emo, and slowcore. With downtuned guitars, dynamic drumming, and lyrics that travel from anguish to renewal, HUAJH promises a debut that is both devastating and deeply cathartic.
For Gilbert and Polstein—musical collaborators since middle school—the album represents years of shared history and a renewed exploration of heavier sonic territory. Now, with Vinegar Hill Sound Records behind them, halfway up a jagged hill is ready to bring their haunting vision to a wider audience.
