It’s a warm embrace. That is the feeling that envelops the listener as “Focus of Reflection” begins to play, launching the debut album from You, Infinite into rotation.
Released in February 2025, the self-titled record is a confident performance that continues the post-rock tradition from upstanding veterans of the genre. The project is led by Raymond Brown and Jeremy Galindo, founders of This Will Destroy You, one of the form’s most recognized groups from the United States.
Following the meditative post-rock groove found in the album’s opener, “Focus of Reflection,” the record’s confidence becomes crystal clear in the latter half of its second piece, “Throughlines.” The song transforms from dreamy, meandering guitar textures to a triumphant theme worthy of a Hollywood stadium score.
Accompanied by the signature snare rattle I’ve come to deeply associate with these musicians’ interpretation of the genre, “Throughlines” is grounded by a steady march that fills out an already dense wall of heavily modified guitar sound.
The song makes clear that quiet, gentle moments will be countered by heroic, ascendant crescendos — a staple of the genre.
That idea is further solidified as “Cutter” shifts into a meditative, clear, and peaceful tapestry of piano melodies and synthesizer harmonies, accompanied by a minimal downtempo drum hit.
“Loop 20” then takes the listener on another airy journey of guitar twang, heavenly synthesizer textures, and jazz-club-inspired percussion, while “The Elder” offers a heavy groove with a wall of guitar distortion and cymbal crashes. In proper fashion for these Central Texas-grounded artists, the piece resolves to a quiet moment of guitar and xylophone before building again with the help of sweeping symphonic strings.
“Currents” brings along another wandering, transformative groove. It provides just enough structure to keep the mind engaged while allowing space for the listener to lose themselves in thought.
Like a fog lifting from a battlefield—revealing that all have survived—or the visage of a love appearing in a crowd, You, Infinite embodies all the most emotional, theatrical, and meditative qualities of the genre its members helped cultivate.
The album captures what is best about the style: a meditative soundscape punctuated by waves of sonic onslaught. It’s the kind of music I imagine the great composers of the past might create if they had access to modern instrumentation.
This new record marks Brown’s return to the genre after nearly two decades.
While Galindo has continued to lead This Will Destroy You, Brown left the group in 2008 to focus on his medical career, though he continued to compose while establishing a practice in Austin.
(Credit: You, Infinite)
Together, Galindo and Brown penned This Will Destroy You’s defining work—the group’s iconic debut Young Mountain—which came to define the post-rock sound of the late aughts.
The seeds of this new project were planted in a collection of melodies developed by Brown during the pandemic and a reignited working relationship with Galindo.
With Galindo in Los Angeles and Brown in Austin, the two initially exchanged ideas digitally, setting the path forward for the new endeavor. Then, between 2021 and 2024, they began working together in person.
Andrew Hernandez recorded and mixed the album in the summer of 2024, with the other current members of This Will Destroy You—Johnnie McBryde, Ethan Billips, and Nicholas Huft—joining to bring the project to fruition.
In recent months, This Will Destroy You has performed pieces from the new album live.
The record continues with “Understated,” which introduces a new element to the sound: a looped electronic drum beat paired with an analog piano. The piece then transitions into a quieter second movement, led by the bouncy tone of a synthesizer. That section is filled out with a pop-loving drum beat before launching into another rock anthem of pure celebration.
It’s the sound of victory—a triumphant return—and, at 11 minutes and 15 seconds, the piece is by far the longest on the record, marking the beginning of its climactic end.
“Shine Eternal” follows, offering another heavy groove that could underscore any climactic film moment. A heart-reaching drumroll carries the listener into a quieter but equally impassioned second movement before launching toward a high-octane zenith.
The heaviness continues at the start of the record’s closing track, “Dormant.” It opens with a forceful push, then enters a groove founded on repeating guitar arpeggios before building to an ear-splitting crescendo.
The audio signal is brought to the edge of collapse before peaceful, sustained synthesizer notes bring the record to its close.
Outstanding.
