Salem (sometimes stylized as S4LEM or SALEM) is an American
electronic music band from
Traverse City, Michigan. It was founded by Heather Marlatt, Jack Donoghue and John Holland.[3] Salem is considered one of the pioneers of the
witch house genre.
Salem released its debut album King Night in 2010. In 2020, the group released a mixtape, Stay Down, followed by their second album, Fires in Heaven, both without Marlatt,[4] who is disputing her ouster.[5]
Salem had been inactive since 2012, with no new releases since their 2011 EP I'm Still in the Night. In 2016, a new Salem album was announced by photographer
Wolfgang Tillmans, who confirmed the news on his
Instagram account.[12] In that year, Salem officially returned with a remix of Tillmans' song "Make It Up as You Go Along", which was included on his Device Control EP.[13][14][15] However, the band was not fully revived until May 2020 where Salem premiered a new mixtape titled Stay Down, which was presented on
NTS Radio.[16] This reboot of the band happened without member Heather Marlatt, who gave a negative public comment about the situation stating she was kicked out.[5]
Salem released their first single in nearly a decade "Starfall" on September 18, 2020, via
Mad Decent's Decent Distribution. The music video follows the band's trip with veteran storm trackers through Tulsa, Oklahoma and Dallas as well as through Texas during tornado season. It was directed by Donoghue and Holland along Tommy Malekoff.[17] In a press release, it was stated that the song was "a signal of additional work to come".[18] Their second album Fires in Heaven, which comes ten years after their debut, was released on October 30, 2020.[19] Along its pre-order on October 16, a new single called "Red River" was unveiled.[20][4]
On November 10, 2022, Salem performed a surprise DJ set for the opening party of clothing brand
Supreme’s flagship store in
Chicago, Illinois, marking the band’s first performance in over 10 years. On July 28, 2023, Salem performed their first solo live set in 12 years. The show took place at El Dorado Bumper Cars in
Coney Island, New York City, tickets for which sold out within minutes after going live online.[citation needed]
^
abcHeather, Marlatt.
"Instagram post". Controversy. Heather Marie Marlatt. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2020.