Silverstein

Formed in Canada in 2000, Silverstein gained attention for a rock style that merged emo textures with gritty post-hardcore drive and expansive indie rock dynamics. Success arrived with their Juno Award-nominated second album, Discovering the Waterfront, which surfaced in 2005. The group returned to the charts in 2015 via the well-received concept release I Am Alive in Everything I Touch. Refining their melodic hardcore approach laced with screamo edges, they delivered the Juno Award-nominated A Beautiful Place to Drown in 2020 and Misery Made Me in 2022. Three years after that, the band put out Antibloom as the opening half of a double album project.

Originally assembled in Ontario in 2000 as a side endeavor, Silverstein began with vocalist Shane Told, guitarist Josh Bradford, drummer Paul Koehler, guitarist Richard McWalter, and bassist Bill Hamilton. After immersing themselves in the province’s hardcore and emo community alongside outfits such as Moneen and Grade, the band cultivated listeners for their luminous emo sound and impassioned post-hardcore style. Their independently issued EP Summer’s Stellar Gaze earned strong notice in 2000, prompting the members to treat Silverstein as their primary focus. Following a lineup shift that brought ex-Maharahj guitarist Neil Boshart in place of McWalter, the group toured the eastern provinces of Canada with greater commitment.

In April 2002 Silverstein issued a follow-up EP, When the Shadows Beam. The release drew the attention of Victory Records founder Tony Brummel, who added the band to his Chicago-based label in October of that year. Their first full-length for Victory, When Broken Is Easily Fixed, appeared in May 2003; a reissued edition with bonus tracks and a DVD followed one year later. Silverstein joined the Warped Tour throughout summer 2005, and their next album, Discovering the Waterfront, arrived that August. They also took part in the 2006 Take Action Tour with Matchbook Romance, Chiodos, and the Early November. May saw the arrival of 18 Candles: The Early Years, which gathered reissued tracks from the band’s initial two self-released EPs alongside live cuts, acoustic versions, detailed liner notes, and rare photographs. Victory later released a special edition of Discovering the Waterfront in fall 2006 that included a bonus live DVD, fresh artwork, and one more track.

After completing tour obligations, Silverstein collaborated with producer Mark Trombino, previously known for work with Jimmy Eat World and blink-182. The resulting album, 2007’s Arrivals & Departures, took its title from the challenge of sustaining personal relationships during constant travel and featured more emotionally intense lyrics shaped by the conclusion of Told’s seven-year relationship shortly before recording began. The band traveled extensively to support the record, performing across North America as well as in Europe, Australia, Japan, and South America. They also returned to the studio, issuing A Shipwreck in the Sand as their fourth album in 2009 and touring the United States and United Kingdom in support.

In 2010 Silverstein announced their departure from Victory and signed with Hopeless Records, which released the EP Transitions that year and the full-length Rescue in 2011. For their sixth album, Short Songs, the band adopted an unusual format: one disc contained original tracks under ninety seconds, while the second offered covers of influential groups including Dead Kennedys, Descendents, and the Promise Ring, augmented by guest contributions from Mike Hranica of the Devil Wears Prada, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, and Chris Hannah of Propagandhi. In 2012 Silverstein parted ways with longtime guitarist Neil Boshart, who was succeeded by Paul-Marc Rousseau. Rousseau’s first recording with the group, This Is How the Wind Shifts, appeared in early 2013.

Over the next two years the band toured widely across North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia, including an appearance on the 2013 Vans Warped Tour. Released in spring 2015 on New Damage Records in Canada and Rise Records internationally, the concept album I Am Alive in Everything I Touch incorporated field recordings tied to each song’s setting and centered on intimate themes of loneliness and loss. October 2016 brought the single “Ghost,” followed in May 2017 by “Retrograde,” which preceded the eighth studio album Dead Reflection that July. Redux: The First 10 Years, featuring re-recorded versions of material from the band’s first four albums, arrived in 2019.

A Beautiful Place to Drown, the band’s tenth studio album, appeared in 2020 and included guest performances from Underoath’s Aaron Gillespie, Princess Nokia, and Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo. It reached number five on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart and earned a Juno Award nomination for Best Rock Album. Subsequent singles “Bankrupt,” “It’s Over,” and “Ultraviolet” paved the way for Misery Made Me in 2022. Marking their 25th anniversary in 2025, Silverstein released the ambitious double album project beginning with Antibloom in February, preceded by the singles “Skin & Bones” and “Confession,” with Pink Moon scheduled for later that year.