Converge announce second new LP of 2026: ‘Hum of Hurt’

Photo by Jason Zucc

You feel it before you hear it. And once you hear it, you can’t unhear it. A low, persistent noise throbbing in the background. Scientists say it registers between 30 and 40 hertz. It’s been heard in Ipswich, Massachusetts; Auckland, New Zealand; and Windsor, Ontario. It has haunted the population of Taos, New Mexico, for decades. It’s been linked to suicides in the UK. Not everyone can hear it. No one knows where it’s coming from. They call it The Hum.

Converge have taken this mysterious real-world phenomenon and reimagined it as a physical manifestation of human suffering. Then an idea struck. “What if ‘The Hum’ is the culmination of all the pain in the world, creating an audible signal across the universe?” vocalist and lyricist Jacob Bannon posits. “Something noticeable to others operating on a similar emotional plane.”

Hum of Hurt follows Love Is Not Enough as Converge’s second full-length release of 2026. Like its predecessor, the album offers a bleak yet empathetic assessment of the human condition and its ongoing deterioration. With this album, the songs are more raw and exposed. “When we came together to write, we ended up with a wealth of material,” Bannon says. “As work progressed we realized we had created two separate albums, and treated them as such.”

Hum of Hurt is distinct from Love Is Not Enough, but just as volatile and potent. “It’s not a sequel,” Bannon explains. “The unifying musical idea early on was, ‘Let’s make a noise rock album.’ But we never really did. The first one wasn’t. This one touches on that spirit, but it’s much more dynamic than that descriptor. To me, it leans more into being an emotional hardcore album, while Love Is Not Enough feels more metal leaning album. In the end, we simply gave creative birth to another Converge record with its own unique identity and character.”

The title track stands as one of the most propulsive and emotional songs in Converge‘s career. Thematically, Bannon examines the price of the lives we pursue. “I’ve given 35 years of my life to creating art and music,” he says. “I appreciate the creative home and support this community has given, yet rarely is space left for anything else. These lyrics are me looking in a mirror, recognizing that I am not the man I want to be. I need change, and still have work to do.”