sace6 really have carved out something extraordinary over the course of 2026.

Though their roots stretch back to the start of the decade, it’s been in the first five months of this year where they have really staked a claim as one of the scene’s most exciting and exhilarating new acts.

Much of that comes down to the contents of their debut album ‘brutalist’, a silky, sensual, savage blend of pop hooks and metalcore brute force. Taking the rough with the smooth, lyrically as much as instrumentally, the duo have tapped into a psyche that so often feels ripe for the picking in this corner of music, but many never quite manage to reach.

To dive a bit deeper into the making of this future phenomenon, Rock Sound sat down with vocalist Sace and guitarist Noah Thomas.

Rock Sound: How are you feeling about the strides that the band have made over the course of 2026 so far? What does it mean to have people resonate with you so much?

Noah: It’s so funny because we didn’t have a moment where we were like, “Oh, is this what it’s going to be?’ It just happened, you know? We had one idea, and then it just started snowballing into the rest of them. And then as we made these ideas, we were like, “Holy shit, we’re doing something that we really truly believe is different. We both really, truly believe that we’re taking a different approach to a lot of this. We’re really happy with what we’re doing, very confident in it, and excited.

RS: What was your relationship like before you started the band? How did you go from one place to then crafting a band with each other?

Sace: We met in 2020 through a mutual friend of ours, and we’ve just been making music together since then. Already being musicians, it felt like that led us towards this project together. With both of our influences combining straight away, it really is just the craftsmanship of two people. This project isn’t done without one of us. It has to be both of us working on it, and that’s really where the art shines through. We believe that this is the gold mine, and we’re still only getting started. The real work begins now. That’s like what this whole thing has been leading towards.

Noah: When you first come out to LA, you think that the work is making as much music as possible, but the real work is going out and just introducing yourself to every fucking possible person that you can, in hopes that you make good connections. And now, every time we have seen an increase in what we’re doing over the last few months, it almost feels like starting over all over again. Every step feels like the beginning.

Sace: And the hunger only grows. I feel like a lot of bands get to this position and almost kick their feet up. But every ounce of growth we see keeps us hungry and humble.

RS: What has it been like seeing that the vision that you both have is clearly something that other people have been looking for as well? It must be validating to know that you aren’t the only ones craving this style?

Noah: We literally look for that in people all the time. We enjoy seeing that hunger in others. It’s so motivating. You can bounce off someone’s energy like that. Like, two hungry people are going to find a way not to starve together, you know? And seeing someone as hungry as you also reminds you that you are not alone in that hunger, which is really comforting. It’s nice to know that there’s somebody with the same aspiration and drive as you.

Sace: Those are also the best people to work with as well. This whole team that we’re with now at Sumerian, that we’re so grateful to be with, it feels like everyone is rooting so hard for us.

RS: When it comes down to ‘Brutalist’ as a whole project, what do you feel like your early intentions for it were, and how did they evolve as songs started to be created? What was that creative process like?

Sace: I feel like with every body of work, I want almost to describe a feeling, and build a world visually, and it all comes down to a texture. So, the texture of ‘brutalist’ is concrete and stainless steel, which makes you think of a monochrome, black-and-white look. The way that I write songs, lyrically and melodically, I come out of my body to a point where I don’t want to intentionally be thinking about what I’m writing. The title comes exactly from what sound we made. You have pop songs with this brutal element slammed on top of them. Vocally, Noah and I both convey a lot of anger and sadness in their most honest form here, and I feel like the most brutally honest way is not to pay attention and let your body flow. There’s no colour here, though, so you interpret it however you want.

Noah: And instrumentally, it comes from Sace having this grand place. He comes up with those textures, and then I will use my instrumentation to try to convey that too. I can really only display my emotions through actual music and instrumentation. I’m not a great talker or a smooth guy, but I know how to really get my point across through sonics. It’s really all about getting across that dread and that misery in the music. We won’t be studio guys unless we build it ourselves and in our homes. The setups we have now allow for everything to be as natural as possible. This feels more honest for me. I’ve worked in studios for years, and I just, nothing ever felt honest about them. To really capture the essence of what you’re trying to display, it just works best at home.

RS: What effect has having each other there to make this expression possible had on other aspects of your life? How has sace6 influenced you away from music?

Noah: It keeps us honest throughout every part of every day. It keeps us true to ourselves. We’re not going to allow each other to stray away from ourselves. Sace is not going to let me stop being me, and I’m not going to let Sace stop being Sace. We hold each other accountable for everything and every part of life, and then you can hear that in our music. There aren’t many friendships that happen like this and end up working like this, where you can take such a close friendship and make it something so much bigger. This is my friend until the day I die, and that’s a very, very rare thing. There’s such camaraderie and brotherhood in this that it’s so hard not to pay homage to that.

Sace: Even through the lyrics that we display, they are for each other. We’re both listening to them through ourselves with such vulnerability because that’s just like how well we know each other. I know how therapeutic it’s gonna be for him to go all out on this, and I know we’re gonna have just a really great time making this song together. It’s something that you can’t buy.

Noah: We also don’t write anything with any other people in mind. If you don’t love what you’re doing, and you’re not confident in what you’re doing, how are you going to make anyone believe you? Especially when it comes to emotionally intense, vulnerable music. If you can’t convince people of these emotions, how can they convince themselves when they hear it?

You need to remember what it means to be a fan as much as an artist. Because we are all in this because we love it, so why would that love and respect change when it comes to your own art?

Noah: Me and Sace are both fans first. Like, anytime we are on a tour with someone we love, we tell them. We’re both massive nothing,nowhere. fans, and the day we met, we were like, ‘Yo, this is the coolest thing in the world, because we both listened to you when we were 17’. We just did a world tour with him, and that really is the coolest thing in the world. We don’t want to be too cool for school, and we don’t want fans that are too cool for us. Take a chance on yourself the next time you go to a show, and ignore anyone looking at you. Dance and have fun, and if you feel embarrassed, I guarantee you that if you do it two or three or more times, you won’t feel embarrassed anymore. That’s what we want people to feel when they are with us.