Connecting to someone no longer in this world is a spiritual undertaking. In life, as in death, both spaces meet on The Awakening‘s “Through the Veil,” and in the South African darkwave band’s latest cinematic video.
“‘Through The Veil’ tells the story of someone who has left this world but still wants to be near the one they love,” says the Awakening’s singer and songwriter Ashton Nyte. “I think it is beautifully romantic and relatable in any setting where we are separated from the person we need to be close to.”
Now you see me / Through the splinters of the past / Just a dream away, sings Nyte on the lush track, welcoming the divine reunion. The video for “Through the Veil” brings the storyline and the “storyteller” to life and is the latest addition of black and white film noir pieces Nyte has crafted for the majority of the band’s music, along with his solo material, throughout the past 25 years.
The third visual installment from the Awakening’s 12th album—and its first self-titled release—the video moves from the hazy, dream-like to vivid scenes and follows the band’s previous short film-like entries, including “Mirror Midnight” and “Haunting,” which have both amassed more than one million views each.
“After the uptempo adventures in the last two videos,” added Nyte, “I enjoyed approaching this one from a more atmospheric storyteller perspective.”
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: Ashton Nyte Falls in Love With The Awakening, Again, on New Self-Titled Album]
Started by Nyte in the late 1990s, the Awakening formed in Johannesburg, South Africa, and released its debut Risen in 1997. By 2009, Nyte permanently relocated to the United States, where he has continued releasing music with the band and as a solo artist, including his debut The Slender Nudes in 2000 through his eighth release Autumn’s Children in 2023.
“I have used the word celebrate a lot when describing this album because it really is that for me,” Nyte told American Songwriter of The Awakening in 2024. “It’s a celebration of the things that made me want to do this and have essentially made me want to keep doing it. It’s a celebration of the career and the life I’ve had thanks to my work as the Awakening and the wonderful fans I have who allow me to keep doing it, and the celebration of what lies ahead.”
This summer, The Awakening will kick off their Haunting Tour 2025 in Germany on July 8, and continue with more dates in the U.S., Canada, the UK, France, the Netherlands, and more through November 8. British dark-industrial band The Royal Ritual will support the Awakening in the UK, with more supporting acts announced at a later date.
The Haunting Tour also includes a co-headlining performance at the Castle Party Festival in Bolków, Poland, in July, and two dates at the Brainstorm Fest in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, on November 7 and 8.
In September, the Awakening will also headline the inaugural Glōm Fest, a four-day pop-up festival taking six international acts along the West Coast in the U.S. to Canada with stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon, before concluding in Vancouver.
The Awakening’s Haunting Tour 2025 Dates:
8 July – Bielefeld, Germany – Movie
9 July – Berlin, Germany – Maschinenhaus [Kesselhaus in der Kulturbrauerei]
10 July – Leipzig, Germany – Naumann’s Tanzlokal [Felsenkeller]
11 July – Bolków, Poland – Castle Party Festival (co-headline main stage)
12 Sep – Los Angeles, CA, USA – Lodge Room (headline Glōm Fest)
13 Sep – San Francisco, CA, USA – DNA Lounge (headline Glōm Fest)
19 Sep – Portland, OR, USA – Star Theater (headline Glōm Fest)
20 Sep – Vancouver, BC, Canada – The Cobalt (headline Glōm Fest)
24 Oct – Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall*
26 Oct – London, UK – Bush Hall*
29 Oct – Angers, France – Joker’s (Ashton Nyte solo acoustic)
30 Oct – Angers, France – Le Chabada
31 Oct – Paris, France – TBA
1 Nov – Stuttgart, Germany – TBA
3 Nov – Hannover, Germany – Café Glocksee
4 Nov – Hamburg, Germany – Nochtspeicher
5 Nov – Cologne, Germany – Yard Club [Die Kantine]
6 Nov – Dortmund, Germany – Pauluskirche (full band acoustic)
7 Nov – Apeldoorn, The Netherlands – Brainstorm Festival (full band co-headline main stage)
8 Nov – Apeldoorn, The Netherlands – Brainstorm Festival (full band acoustic, theater stage)
* With support from The Royal Ritual
Purchase tickets here.
Photo: Courtesy of Ashton Nyte
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