Following the success of their multi-Grammy-nominated album, God Shuffled His Feet, which was released 25 years ago, the Crash Test Dummies from Winnipeg embarked on an anniversary tour. The overwhelmingly positive reception of their tour led them to return to the road in 2022 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut LP, The Ghosts That Haunt Me. While on tour in recent years, the band has been told various personal stories by their fans, ranging from dark to funny, which have inspired the band to start writing music again.

Their new single, “Sacred Alphabet,” is a stunning revelation that captures a feeling of awe. The instrumentation is minimalistic, incorporating “spectral” sounds and a choir made entirely of member Ellen Reid’s voice. “Sacred Alphabet” explores the metaphor of sound and symbol, imagining a world before the existence of subject, object, verb, or tense where sound had not yet been enslaved by meaning.