LOS ANGELES, CA- Last year, I had the chance to interview a peer of mine, Priscilla Chavez Scott, one of the producers behind “Every Time You Lose Your Mind”, the documentary chronicling the legacy of Failure. Watching that film really drove home just how deep the band’s influence runs. For a group that has often existed just outside the mainstream spotlight, their fingerprints are everywhere, quietly shaping generations of alternative and rock musicians who came after them.
One of the more notable voices in that lineage is Hayley Williams of Paramore.
So seeing her featured on “The Rising Skyline,” the latest single from Failure’s newly released album Location Lost, feels less like a surprise and more like something that was always supposed to happen. There’s a kind of serendipity to it, like the universe finally lining up a collaboration that had already existed spiritually for years.
Failure’s seventh studio album, Location Lost, arrived April 24 via Failure Records, Arduous Records, and Virgin Music Group , and after only a handful of listens, mostly while dragging myself through gym sessions, it already feels like a record longtime fans will immediately recognize as authentically theirs. If you’re familiar with Failure’s catalog, the core DNA is still intact: that post-rock weight, the shoegaze atmosphere, the melodic melancholy, and the way their songs somehow feel both expansive and deeply intimate at the same time.
“The Rising Skyline,” which clocks in at four and a half minutes, is sparse on lyrics but heavy on mood and emotional dynamism. It’s a largely acoustic breakup song, but like most Failure songs, the emotional shape of the music matters more than simple categorization. There’s a sense of drifting through memory in lines like “The shape of your subtle grin / Refill the memory” and “Hold onto the rising skyline,” where the lyrics feel more like emotional snapshots than direct storytelling.
That has always been one of Failure’s greatest strengths. They create atmosphere first and let the listener live inside it.
And then there’s Hayley Williams.
At this point in her career, Hayley feels like a musical chameleon, someone who can step into nearly any genre and find the center of it. Whether it’s arena-sized alternative rock with Paramore, the more intimate experimental corners of her solo work, or collaborations like this, she adapts without ever sounding like she’s performing someone else’s identity.
Her feature here is a seamless fit.
It was almost hard for me to separate her voice at first, and I mean that as a compliment. Beyond her own verse, there are these whisper-like backing vocals (I think…. I can’t quite tell…) woven around the lead vocal that feel like they’re haunting the edges of the track. It creates this beautiful tension with Ken Andrews’ firm vocal presence. His voice on this song feels almost ghostly… kind of suspended in the musical atmosphere… with a kind of fragile control that gives the track its emotional center.
As far as I know (and truth be told, I’m not an expert on Failure’s entire repertoire), Failure doesn’t often do collaborations, and Andrews himself noted that his friendship with Hayley and her longtime support of the band made this duet feel especially natural. You can hear that comfort in the recording. Nothing feels forced. It sounds like artists who already understood each other before the microphones were even on.
And honestly, I keep wondering what it must have felt like for Hayley to be in that studio recording this song. For someone who has openly admired Failure for years, who was featured in their documentary as part of the chorus of artists speaking to their importance, stepping into that room and becoming part of their actual discography must have been surreal. Not just contributing to a song, but becoming part of the historical thread of a band that helped shape your own artistic life.
That has to be a trip.
If you’re a fan of Failure, you’re probably already going to love “The Rising Skyline.” It carries all the signature elements that have made the band so beloved for decades. And if you’re a fan of Hayley Williams, this track is another reminder that there really isn’t a musical space she can’t inhabit convincingly.
Sometimes collaborations feel like label strategy. This one feels like destiny.
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FAILURE TOUR DATES
Apr 21 Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon (Album Release Show) *SOLD OUT
Apr 25 Las Vegas – Sick New World Festival
May 02 Chicago, IL – SPACE ECHO @ Radius
May 03 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop *SOLD OUT
May 05 Nashville, TN – Basement East *SOLD OUT
May 06 Atlanta, GA Masquerade – Hell
May 08 Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome To Rockville Festival
May 09 Asheville, NC – Eulogy *SOLD OUT
May 10 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
May 12 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge *SOLD OUT
May 13 Cambridge, MA – Sinclair *SOLD OUT
May 14 Hamden, CT – Space *SOLD OUT
May 15 Washington, DC – Union Stage
May 16 Harrisburg, PA – Arrow at Archer Music Hall
May 17 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
May 19 Detroit, MI – Shelter *SOLD OUT
May 20 Toronto, ON – Opera House
The Rising Skyline Fall Tour
Sep 30 San Francisco/Berkeley, CA – The Chapel
Oct 2 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
Oct 03 Seattle, WA – Showbox
Oct 04 Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
Oct 07 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
Oct 08 Omaha, NE – Waiting Room
Oct 09 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave II
Oct 11 Columbus, OH – A&R Bar
Oct 13 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
Oct 14 Providence, RI – The Met
Oct 16 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
Oct 17 Louisville, KY – Headliners
Oct 18 Grand Rapids, MI – The Pyramid Scheme
Oct 20 Indianapolis, IN – Vogue
Oct 21 St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
Oct 22 Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck
Oct 23 Oklahoma City, OK – Beer City Music Hall
