Jamie Hall was absentmindedly watching a movie when he first heard the phrase "the perfume of decay." It was nothing more than isolated bit of dialogue, but the line resonated with the Tigercub frontman. It sounded dark, heavy, and gothic. It sounded like his band.

"There was a nighttime aesthetic to it, and something that reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe and the Victorian era," he remembers. "It seemed to sum up the bittersweet nature of growing up. Thematically and musically, that's where Tigercub was headed."

With The Perfume of Decay — Tigercub's third record of nocturnal, hard-hitting rock, as well as their first release for Loosegroove Records — Hall draws the curtains shut and embraces a moody, melancholic sound that's every bit as cinematic as Hollywood itself. It's an album about counterpoint and opposites, stacked with songs that contrast overdriven guitars with whispered vocals, tight grooves with shoegazing swells of noise, sonic experimentation with sharp songwriting. For band that's always trafficked in drama and dynamics, The Perfume of Decay marks Tigercub's strongest release to date.