Fifteen years ago, psych-rock explorers White Hills and GNOD put out Dropout, a collaboration that, at the time, was just another experiment in their ever-expanding catalog. Yet, unbeknownst to them, it would develop a cult following, resonating deeply with fans long after its release. Now, in 2024, the album is being reborn—not just as a reissue, but as something entirely new.
On those original recordings, Dave W reminisces “The original recordings came together when GNOD won a free day of studio time at Dropout in South London. They decided to use the entire session just jamming—no pressure to mix, no strict plan—just seeing what they could create. They recorded for hours, capturing a ton of material, and then handed it over to me, to mix it for them.”.
The journey to this moment started with a lost hard drive.
“We all started talking about how our careers have run in parallel,” says Dave W. “GNOD’s first show was one that they put together for us on our first proper tour of the UK. Over the years, we’ve done so many albums, explored so many styles, but Dropout just kept resurfacing.”
That realization led to a conversation with their UK label, Rocket Recordings, about doing a remaster, something different from Rocket’s original idea. As it happens Thrill Jockey stepped in to release the project. But as Dave W. dug into his archives, a problem emerged—no one had the master recordings.
“I had to dig through old hard drives,” Dave W. explains. “And what ultimately happened is that a lot of that material—including other music from that era—was on a dead hard drive.”
A stroke of luck saved the project. A tech-savvy friend managed to recover the files, but what Dave W. found wasn’t a finished album—it was a mess of raw, unmixed tracks. With no choice but to start from scratch, he reassembled and remixed the album, uncovering forgotten material along the way.
“There were tracks GNOD recorded that I hadn’t used, and tracks we recorded that didn’t make the cut. As I listened, I realized some of these unused parts changed the vibe of the songs in ways that made them feel fresh again.”
The band sent the new mixes to GNOD’s Paddy and Chris, who were immediately on board. “They were like, ‘Why does it sound so different?’” Dave W. laughs. “And I told them, ‘Because I swapped things out, added things in.’ And they just said, ‘Go for it. This is fucking great.’
“That got us thinking”, he continues “what else was recorded during that time that we never used? We started digging and uncovered even more material, including some White Hills tracks from that same period. Suddenly, this wasn’t just about remixing; it became a deeper dive into that era, bringing lost pieces back to life in a whole new way”.
This process didn’t just bring back Dropout—it expanded it. Tracks like “Elka,” previously only on the CD version, were reconstructed using AI-based music separation tools to create a proper mix. Others, like “Unified,” had been inexplicably left out of the original release.
“I can’t believe ‘Unified’ took this long to come out,” Dave W. admits. “Hearing it now, I’m like, ‘This song is fucking amazing.’”
The reissue also includes a massive bonus: an additional album’s worth of previously unreleased material, available as a digital download with the record.
“The mixes are punchier, cleaner, and have a more modern feel,” adds White Hills’ Ego Sensation. “It’s still Dropout, but more realized.”
With Dropout reborn, the two bands are preparing for something they’ve never done before—performing it live.
At this year’s Roadburn Festival, White Hills and GNOD will finally bring Dropout to the stage. But true to their improvisational nature, they have no idea what it will sound like.
“We’ve decided what songs we’re playing, but how they’ll sound? No clue,” says Dave W. “We’re rehearsing separately, and we’ll only really know once we meet up.”
For a project rooted in spontaneity, that unpredictability feels fitting.
Beyond Dropout, White Hills already have two new albums in the works. One, which they describe as an “opus,” is shaping up to be a defining moment for the band. Meanwhile, they’re planning a long-awaited tour for last year’s Beyond This Fiction—and hoping to return to the UK this autumn.
And as for another collaboration with GNOD?
Ego Sensation leaves the door open. “It reminds me how amazing GNOD is and how fun it would be to work together again. This project shows how rewarding collaboration can be.”
Dave W. has an even bigger vision. “Paddy once told me he started GNOD because of his love for Swans. We’ve worked with Martin Bisi, who produced a lot of Swans records, in the same studio where those albums were made. I’ve always had this fantasy of all of us going in there together and doing something. Who knows?”
For now, Dropout lives again—and, as always, White Hills and GNOD are looking forward, not back.
