Thomas V Jager Monolord

stream Monolord frontman Thomas V. Jager's debut solo album 'A Solitary Plan'

As mentioned, Monolord frontman Thomas V. Jäger is releasing his debut solo album A Solitary Plan this Friday (7/24) — pushed back from May — on RidingEasy Records (pre-order). Compared to Monolord’s towering doom metal, Thomas’ solo material is more in the psychedelic folk realm, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s just as good at this kind of thing. Doom and psych-folk have always gone hand in hand, and Thomas has mastered the kind of haunting melodicism you need for both. “I could’ve rearranged [these songs] to get a Monolord vibe,” Thomas says, “but I wanted the basis of just voice, guitar and synths. Really laid back and mellow.”

A Solitary Plan is also a more personal album than the music Thomas makes with Monolord. It was inspired by health scares, a death in the family, and coming to terms with “the likelihood of not becoming a parent after wanting to have a family for a long time.” “When I put down vocal tracks on the last song ‘The Bitter End’, you can hear my voice is trembling at parts,” Thomas says. “Every time I listen I get goosebumps, which rarely happens with songs I write.”

He also adds, “This album is me venting all of this emotional energy I’ve been carrying around. Now I’m feeling more open about it, but at the start I had a hard time talking with friends and family. The record is what came out instead of talking about it.”

Though the album isn’t officially out until Friday, we’re premiering a full stream and you can listen right here: