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For Immediate Release
January 29, 2025
ISTA RELEASES NEW EXPLOSIVE PSYCH SINGLE, “GODS IN HEAT”
PROPULSIVE RHYTHM-DRIVEN EXPLORATION OF INSTINCT AND AWARENESS STREAMING NOW - LISTEN
“GODS IN HEAT” MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERED VIA FLOOD MAGAZINE TODAY - READ
VIDEO STREAMING NOW - WATCH
ISTA ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM IN SOUND TO ALL, OUT APRIL 17
BRING NEW MATERIAL TO THE STAGE WITH SCHOOL NIGHT SHOW
AND WEST COAST DATES – MORE INFO AND TICKETS HERE
| | Psychedelic indie-rock band ISTA returns with their new single, “Gods in Heat,” an explosive rhythm-driven track that explores the intersection of physical energy and spiritual awareness. Built on steady grooves, textured guitars, and layered vocal harmonies, the song moves between restraint and release. “Gods in Heat” finds ISTA continuing the band’s interest in how instinct, connection, and consciousness coexist within a shared musical space. | | The single previews ISTA’s forthcoming album In Sound To All, out April 17, and highlights the band’s focus on immersive, shared listening experiences. Recorded with longtime producer Sam Cohen, “Gods in Heat” captures the group playing together in real time, with layered vocals and rhythm shaping its dynamic build. Frontman Rex Costello says the song began unintentionally when a bass riff surfaced as he tested his signal — “really just what my body felt like expressing in the moment.” Though the original demo was scrapped, the riff lingered, later evolving with fuzzed guitar, a distinct drum feel, and three-part harmonies written for Diona, Chloe, and Theadora. He describes the track as an effort to “shake the listener awake to the intensity, splendor, stillness, chaos, and vastness of existence — a kind of cosmic recognition.” | | "Gods in Heat" official music video directed by Costello, with visual concepts and camera operation by Connor Lawson, Trevor Brendan, and animations by CC Mulligan. | | |
Accompanying the single is an official music video that premiered earlier today via FLOOD Magazine, directed by Costello, with visual concepts and camera operation by Connor Lawson, Trevor Brendan, and animations by CC Mulligan. The video channels the song’s pulse through a tactile, print-inspired aesthetic. Lawson says the concept grew from the feeling of flipping through a comic book or handmade zine, where flashes of imagery and staccato motion feel both gripping and hypnotic. With that approach in mind, he and Brendan filmed the band’s performances while planning for the final printed treatment, resulting in a blend of live footage and collage-style animation that reflects ISTA’s ongoing interest in merging analog techniques with modern production.
Following a run of headline shows last year, ISTA has been performing along the West Coast with recent stops at Fenwood in Big Sur and The Wayfarer in Orange County. In partnership with KCRW, who named ISTA’s “Waves” as one of their Best Songs of 2025, the band will make their Los Angeles live debut tonight with School Night at The Airliner.
As with the band’s previous work, “Gods in Heat” is intended as a shared listening experience that encourages presence and connection. It follows the release of “Low Fruit,” which leaned into brighter tones and outward momentum, while this new single takes a more grounded and atmospheric approach, setting the stage for the broader scope of the release of In Sound To All, out April 17.
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About ISTA:
Born from a bi-coastal clash of energies somewhere between the colorful vibrations of a Ken Kesey acid test and the electric atmosphere of a 1970s New Year’s Eve at Studio 54, ISTA is a riff-charged, groove-infused, harmony-bedazzled psychedelic love bomb, exploding, In Sound To All. The band's unique blend of genres, from rock to funk to disco, electronic, and punk, ultimately coalescing into something fresh, modern, and simultaneously timeless, is sure to intrigue and excite listeners. Originally initiated in 2019 by West Coast transplants Rex Costello and Oliver Hart, the two found themselves in Brooklyn, NY, combining forces in the studio with producer Sam Cohen. The outfit quickly morphed into a core of 5, with Evan Eubanks on drums, Diona West on bass and vocals and Chloe Golding on keys and backing vocals, that grows limbs to include horns and additional guitars.
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