glaive returns with new single ‘asheville’

Online underground revolutionary glaive marks his return with crowd-igniting new single ‘asheville’. After leading the charge of a scene which redefined pop music when he was only 16 years old, glaive has evolved beyond his instincts and is now in full command of a sound which continues to disrupt and reinvent our expectations. 

The new track is named after his hometown of Asheville in North Carolina: glaive’s meteoric rise which allowed him to escape it and tour the world has led to a complicated affection for his origins. The hell-raising defiance of his adolescence has evolved into a maturity reflected in the scale and complexity of his music. ‘asheville’ is the story of a teenager pulled up from his roots and has finally returned to them as a young man and artist. It begins with a military chant which acts as a rallying call for interrupted youth: “I left my home, joined the army / The day I left, my momma cried” 

Then the beat kicks in, like teeth hitting concrete. ‘asheville’ is one of glaive’s most experimental floor-fillers to date in all its electroclash maximalism – here is an artist who knows how to make you move. It’s accompanied by a video which depicts a return to the boyhood joy of playing football with his friends for his hometown team. 

Speaking on the new single, glaive shares: “Upon returning to my hometown, I had this new found confidence mixed with a bit of shame for making ‘fuck this town’ because in the end Asheville, NC is actually is quite a nice place. At one point, it felt like a simple song about moving home – and upon reflection, months later, it felt quite angry and I’m not sure why. It encapsulates the strangely confusing feeling of coming home and trying to make a place feel new when you have known it your entire life.”

His previous works cypress grove, all dogs go to heaven, and then i’ll be happy, have all cemented him as a generational artist, lauded by the likes of The New York Times, Vulture, GQ and The FADER. His second studio album of last year, May It Never Falter, was hailed as a genre-defying body of work that marked the beginning of an independent chapter in his artistry.  

Working closely with a tight-knit team of collaborators including John Cunningham (XXXTENTACION, Kanye West), Ralph Castelli (Dora Jar, The Neighbourhood), and Jeff Hazin (Kali Uchis, renforshort) the album served as a coming-of-age narrative set against the backdrop of adolescence and self-discovery. May It Never Falter was recorded in the remote landscapes of Iceland and Wales, continuing the Sigur Rós-inspired approach to isolated, immersive recording environments that began with his debut album i care so much i don’t care at all (2023). The album was listed as one of the best of 2024 by Vogue and was supported by a North American and European tour in spring of 2025.