"Living Here Without You" is a song by American rock band Tantric, released on June 23, 2021, as the lead single from their eighth studio album, The Sum of All Things.[1] The track followed the band's 2021 re-release of "Breakdown". An official music video premiered the same day to coincide with the single's release and the album announcement.[2]
Following a period of writing and recording between 2019 and 2021, Tantric announced The Sum of All Things alongside the release of "Living Here Without You" as its lead single.[3] The band's lineup at the time featured vocalist Hugo Ferreira, guitarist Sebastian LaBar, bassist Jaron Gulino, and drummer Jason Hartless. The album was produced by Chuck Alkazian, who had previously worked with artists such as Eminem, Pop Evil, Chris Cornell, and Sponge, and was released through Cleopatra Records.[4][5]
The single was chosen after receiving particularly strong reactions from audiences during the band's live shows.[6] Gulino later explained that the record served as a continuation of Mercury Retrograde from a production standpoint, featuring "modern rock tones and big sound", while incorporating a broader all-around rock feel. He credited Alkazian as "the fifth member that helps connect the dots" creatively, and noted that some material was developed from older demos while other songs were written during the COVID-19 lockdowns.[7]
Release and promotion
"Living Here Without You" was released digitally on June 23, 2021, through Cleopatra Records as the first single from The Sum of All Things. The release coincided with the announcement of the album's July 23 release date and was accompanied by the premiere of its official music video directed by Vicente Cordero of Industrialism Films.[8] The video intercuts performance footage with visual motifs inspired by the album's cover art, using color and lighting to mirror the song's emotional themes. The single and music video also served as the promotional centerpiece of the album's launch and was promoted heavily by the band's label Cleopatra Records.[9][10]
Composition and sound
Press coverage described the song as "an impressively heavy and deeply emotional" culmination of Tantric's twenty-year career.[11] "Living Here Without You" has been characterized as a moving reflection on love and separation, opening with a somber, clean guitar line before building into a more forceful arrangement. Its structure alternates between atmospheric verses and bombastic choruses, emphasizing the emotionaltension of romantic loss and resilience.[12][13]
Ferreira's baritone vocals and melodic phrasing drive the song's emotional tone, while the instrumentation blends layered guitars, steady percussion, and bass lines that underscore the song's heaviness. Gulino described it as one of the most guitar-driven songs on the album, written musically by LaBar with lyrics by Ferreira.[14] He added that the sessions balanced heaviness with melodic hooks thanks to Ferreira's instinctive ability to improvise lyrics and vocal lines during the songwriting process while staying true to the band's typical post-grunge and alternative rock sound, but experiment with modernized production and instrumentals incorporated into contemporary sounds.[15]
Upon its release, Loudwire listed it at No. 32 on their list of "50 Best Releases" for the month of June 2021.[16][17]
Critical reception
The Sum of All Things and its lead single "Living Here Without You" received mixed-to-positive coverage from online rock publications. Loudwire, Blabbermouth.net, and Icon vs. Icon highlighted the single as one of the album's emotional high points, praising its combination of atmosphere and power and noting frontman Hugo Ferreira's expressive vocal delivery.[18][19][20]
Writing for The Prog Mind, critic Jason Spencer called the song "a good example" of Tantric's knack for crafting distinctive choruses and melodies, describing its rhythm, chorus, and overall feel as "instantly attractive". While Spencer appreciated the band's heavier edge and enduring melodic focus, he argued that tighter editing would have strengthened the track.[21] Collectively, reviewers characterized the single as a solid representation of Tantric's established sound—melodic yet gritty.[22] In interviews following the album's release, Gulino cited the track as one of his personal favorites and noted its consistently positive reception during live performances.[23]
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