Devin Gilbert and Jeb Polstein were walking in the woods one January night, looking for owls, when they came across what can only be described as a “witch hut.” What mysteries crouched inside? The two friends found no owls that night. But as halfway up a jagged hill, Gilbert and Polstein continue to look. “Halfway up a jagged hill” is the literal Latin translation of “mediocre.”

The witch hut became the album art for the Brooklyn duo’s self-titled debut. Carefully rendered by visual artist Nick Corbo (Spirit Was), the art “reflects a darkness and elusive sensitivity that characterizes the album’s sound.” Not quite Metal, not quite Emo, not quite Slowcore, the album “invites in anyone who wanders by.” As Gilbert sings on “Bleakwood”: “walk with me / through hollow trees.”

The album’s lyrics “take you on a journey from hopelessness to regeneration, drawing on natural imagery, fantasy themes, and daily observations.”

Gilbert and Polstein have been performing together for most of their lives, forging a musical bond that stretches back to middle school Jazz band. Since then, they have been involved in a number of projects both together and separately, including the post-hardcore band Primate House, the shoegaze-inflected Chris Sunshine, Polstein’s Seattle-based free Jazz/Doom math duo Macaw, and Gilbert’s experimental Pop solo project Kid Dusty. 

HUAJH was born in 2024, when the two found themselves both living in New York for the first time in years, wanting to explore the heavier side of their musical backgrounds. After about a year of songwriting and practicing, HUAJH approached Reed Black of Vinegar Hill Sound to record an album. They did not know that midway through the mixing process, Black would sign them to Vinegar Hill Sound Records, where they now join Fish Hunt, People I Love, and Dan English.

During the day, Gilbert works as a mental health clinician, which leads to “themes of pain and recovery” in his musical work. Polstein, meanwhile, is a landscape architect who is “immersed in natural imagery.”