Charm School reunites with Matia Simovich for new single ‘Desolation’
Louisville post-punk band Charm School releases “Desolation,” featuring INHALT’s Matia Simovich, out 25 September 2026 on Bandcamp.
Matia Simovich, the Los Angeles producer behind INHALT, wrote the music for “Desolation“, the new Charm School single released 25 September 2026 on Bandcamp. Andrew Sellers, the Louisville post-punk band’s frontman, supplies vocals and lyrics. Simovich previously handled drum programming on Charm School’s 2023 track “Simulacra”; “Desolation” is their first full writing collaboration.
The track pairs a steady EBM bassline with Italo-disco melodic phrasing, set under a compressed, metallic vocal treatment from Sellers. No label is named for the single; it is self-released through the band’s Bandcamp page.
‘Desolation’ leads toward a new Charm School EP
“Desolation” is the lead single from an EP that has not yet been named or given a release date. The EP will include Steve Albini’s alternate mix of “Simulacra,” recorded in 2023, before Albini’s death in May 2024. Simovich made his own alternate mix of “Simulacra” that year as well.
Charm School live dates in October
Charm School plays three shows in support of “Desolation”:
- 1 October 2026 – Camp Spaceman, Louisville, KY
- 2 October 2026 – Pilot Light, Knoxville, TN
- 18 October 2026 – Oblivion, Los Angeles, CA
About Charm School
Charm School formed in Louisville, Kentucky, around Andrew Sellers, with Matt Filip, Drew English and Brian Vega. Sellers built the band’s sound out of Louisville’s punk and hardcore lineage – Slint, Will Oldham, Sunspring, Crain, Guilt and Rodan – combined with Chicago post-hardcore acts The Jesus Lizard and Shellac, and older post-punk groups PiL, The Fall and Fugazi.
The band released the single “Simulacra” in June 2023, followed by its debut EP, “Finite Jest,” that July. Steve Albini and Matia Simovich each recorded alternate mixes of “Simulacra” around the same time. Charm School’s debut LP, “Debt Forever,” followed on Surprise Mind on 24 January 2025, and the “Schadenfreude Ploy” EP arrived in early 2026. The band now describes itself as “LA via Louisville.”
“Desolation,” released 25 September 2026, reunites Sellers with Simovich and points toward a new EP that will finally give Albini’s shelved “Simulacra” mix a release.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
