Beloved singer/songwriter Rocky Votolato has revealed his new band, Suzzallo, and today the group have announced their debut full-length, The Quiet Year, due out May 2nd, 2025.

After the devastating loss of his child in a tragic car accident, Votolato formed Suzzallo as a means of transmuting extreme grief into something healing. Votolato's solo career has primarily been defined by intimate, acoustic-based music, but Suzzallo swings hard in the other direction. The Quiet Year is an explosive eulogy of fuzzed-out alternative rock that's as stirring and anthemic as it is intense and cathartic.

Today the new band are also sharing music for the first time: the distortion-drenched album opener, "River." The track combines Smashing Pumpkins-esque riffing with Votolato's open-hearted lyricism and soaring voice, resulting in a song that's sonically and emotionally pummeling.

“I guess it all started to take shape in the summer of 2022, about six months after Kienan [they/them] passed,” Votolato explains. “I knew I needed a louder, bigger, more explosive sound to say what I needed to with this project. This kind of personal tragedy rearranges everything about you as a human and artist. I needed a new channel to express what I was going through and the only thing that made any sense to me were the most distorted guitar sounds I could find.” To create Suzzallo, Votoato teamed with a cast of longtime friends and collaborators. The band's lineup was rounded out by bassist Steve Bonnell (Schoolyard Heroes) and drummer Rudy Gajadhar (Waxwing), and the trio recruited legendary producer John Goodmanson (Unwound, The Blood Brothers, Sleater-Kinney) to record The Quiet Year. Votolato’s friend Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service even performed on several songs, lending his signature vocals to beautifully placed harmonies, along with providing electric guitar, bass 6, and piano.

The Quiet Year confronts the shattering weight of grief head on, while also revealing an uplifting strength and determination to carry on beneath it. “I was completely shattered and knocked down by this loss, but I feel like Suzzallo is a big part of getting back on my feet and finding a reason to keep going,” says Votolato. “I’m so grateful for the way creating art has helped me process my grief and heal, and I hope these songs can bring some catharsis and comfort to others now as well.”