Oakland’s Sword Tongue premieres ‘Murder White Noise’ video; new cut from ‘Bonfire In The Tempest’ EP
Sword Tongue (Photo by Jennifer Ryan Wilde)
Oakland alt-rock/darkwave trio Sword Tongue premiere the video for “Murder White Noise”, taken from the five-track EP “Bonfire In The Tempest.” The EP – self-released on July 3, 2025 – collects “Diamonds To Rust,” “Industrial Alchemy,” “The Skin You Shed,” “Murder White Noise,” and “We Are The Resistance.”
“Murder White Noise” frames the contemporary habit of using true-crime media as a coping mechanism. Vocalist Jennifer Ryan Wilde explains it like this: “I started consuming true crime content as a way to turn off the thoughts that kept me awake at night… One day I told a friend I was listening to a livestreamed trial… She said ‘WHOAH, what is that, murder white noise?’ As I told people about the song, I found many others watch crime stories as a release from their stressful lives.”
Guitarist Gaetano Maleki adds: “From a songwriting perspective, this pulled a lot of anxiety out of me… I wanted to bring out tension to mirror the vocals, but with some kind of seductive undertones.”
The band went into the studio with drummer-producer Dan Milligan (The Joy Thieves). Milligan’s production résumé includes remix and production credits alongside artists such as Chris Connelly, <PIG>, Consolidated and members of Ministry, Stabbing Westward, Killing Joke and others.
About Sword Tongue
Sword Tongue formed in Oakland, California in 2020, originally built around the husband-and-wife duo Gaetano Maleki and Jennifer Wilde. Wilde, a classically trained vocalist who has performed with the Oakland Symphony Chorus, has been a guest vocalist and lyricist for seminal shoegaze band Love Spirals Downwards.
Drummer/producer Dan Milligan (The Joy Thieves) later joined, completing the current trio. The brainchild of The Joy Thieves, he has quite the history co-creating, producing and remixing such artists as Chris Connelly, PIG and Consolidated, and members of such bands as Ministry, Stabbing Westward, The Rollins Band, Killing Joke, David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, among others.
Musically Sword Tongue blend darkwave, alternative rock, shoegaze and industrial elements.
The band’s debut EP “Shadows In The Shape Of Men” was released on May 13, 2020. Subsequent releases include “Into The Sun” (EP, 2021), “Taming The Night Wolves” (EP, 2023), and the single “Diamonds To Rust” (2024), leading to the 2025 EP “Bonfire In The Tempest”.
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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!
