Flooding - object 1 EP
- Samuel Stevens
- Jul 8
- 2 min read
Flooding’s new EP, object 1, set for self-release on July 11, 2025, is a revelation in dissonant intimacy—a compelling exploration of lust, longing, and vulnerability that pushes the band’s sonic and emotional boundaries further than ever before. Helmed by guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Rose Brown, with bassist Cole Billings and drummer Zach Cunningham, the Kansas City-based trio continue their alchemy of the soft and the severe, this time filtering their noise-drenched post-hardcore roots through the glint of pop sensibility.
Where previous efforts like 2023’s Silhouette Machine built a reputation on jarring transitions between ambience and brutality, object 1 retains the catharsis but smooths the edges just enough to let a new kind of clarity through—both melodically and thematically. Brown has traded some of her spoken word delivery for haunting vocal hooks, casting herself not just as a narrator but as a magnetic presence pulling listeners deeper into the emotional undertow.
The band's EP opens with “complete detail” and is angular, driven by slow, jittery riffs and percussion that stutters just on the edge of collapse. There’s a twitchiness to it, as if desire itself is making the structure of the song tremble. It feels less like a composition and more like a mood unravelling in real time. Following is the track, “your silence is my favorite song,” a slow-burning track that toys with restraint. Brown’s soft vocals shimmer over glacial guitars, fragile yet loaded with immense tension. When the full band finally crashes in, it doesn’t feel like a rupture—it’s a release, a confrontation with the quiet pain that lingers in emotional distance.
But the standout track of the entire EP is undoubtedly “depictions of the female body,” where Flooding reaches their most honest and emotionally complex terrain. The song builds with layers of feedback and hypnotic rhythm, while Brown delivers one of her most vulnerable performances to date: “I'm sick and I know it / but it's hard letting go of it / I tried to forget her.” These lyrics hit like a confession made in the dark; they're unflinching and aching. It’s a moment that highlights Flooding’s ability to articulate the contradictions of womanhood, desire, and despair without diluting the rawness that defines them.
object 1 is more than just an evolution for Flooding—it’s a transformation. While rooted in slowcore and noise rock, the band doesn’t adhere to any genre as much as they use it as a springboard. Each track feels sculpted by instinct rather than tradition, reflecting the band’s deep commitment to letting feeling dictate form.
Rose Brown’s declaration that “sexual fantasies are a form of hope” becomes the emotional nucleus of this record. These songs are not escapism, but confrontation—blurry snapshots of yearning, power, and decay. There’s a seductive volatility in how Flooding marries feedback squalls with hushed melodies, pop ambition with harsh truths. On object 1, softness is not weakness—it’s another form of force.
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