NEWS : FRI, NOV 13, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Clipping’s Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X): Available Digitally Today From Sub Pop and Bandcamp
Today, Friday, November 13th, 2026, Clipping is releasing Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X), the tenth anniversary edition of their Hugo Award-nominated sci-fi opus, through Sub Pop and Bandcamp. The 2xLP deluxe anniversary edition will now be available Friday, December 11th.
Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X) features the acclaimed album’s original fifteen-song tracklist, plus eight new, previously unreleased songs and alternate takes.
Splendor & Misery is an Afrofuturist, dystopian concept album that follows the sole survivor of a slave uprising on an interstellar cargo ship, and the onboard computer that falls in love with him. Thinking he is alone and lost in space, the character discovers music in the ship’s shuddering hull and chirping instrument panels. William and Jonathan’s tracks draw an imaginary sonic map of the ship’s decks, hallways, and quarters, while Daveed’s lyrics ride the rhythms produced by its engines and machinery. In a reversal of H.P. Lovecraft’s concept of cosmic insignificance, the character finds relief in learning that humanity is of no consequence to the vast, uncaring universe. It turns out, pulling the rug out from under anthropocentrism is only horrifying to those who thought they were the center of everything to begin with. Ultimately, the character decides to pilot his ship into the unknown—and possibly into oblivion—instead of continuing on to worlds whose systems of governance and economy have violently oppressed him.
Splendor & Misery is one of Clipping’s most beloved releases, having earned praise from the likes of The New York Times, Bandcamp Daily, CLASH, The Line Of Best Fit, All Music, The Needle Drop, and Uproxx to being selected for year-end lists from the likes of PopMatters (“Best Hip Hop Albums of 2016”), The Observer (“10 Best Hip Hop Albums of 2016”), and Stereogum (“Best Rap Albums of 2016”).
Splendor & Misery would also be nominated for a Hugo Award for “Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form,” in 2017, being the second album to do so in the awards ceremony’s history. In 2019, Pitchfork ranked Splendor & Misery as one of “The 33 Best Industrial Albums of All Time.”
Clipping would also perform songs from Splendor & Misery on late-night TV, with appearances on former shows The Late Late Show with James Corden (“A Better Place”) and Conan (“Air Em Out”). Recently, the band performed the song “True Believer” (with special guest vocalist Sharon Udoh aka Counterfeit Madison) for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk series.
Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X) is now available to preorder on 2xLP from Sub Pop and Bandcamp. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com in North America, Mega Mart Europe in the UK and EU, and your local record store will receive the Metallic Silver colored vinyl (while supplies last).
Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X) features the acclaimed album’s original fifteen-song tracklist, plus eight new, previously unreleased songs and alternate takes.
Splendor & Misery is an Afrofuturist, dystopian concept album that follows the sole survivor of a slave uprising on an interstellar cargo ship, and the onboard computer that falls in love with him. Thinking he is alone and lost in space, the character discovers music in the ship’s shuddering hull and chirping instrument panels. William and Jonathan’s tracks draw an imaginary sonic map of the ship’s decks, hallways, and quarters, while Daveed’s lyrics ride the rhythms produced by its engines and machinery. In a reversal of H.P. Lovecraft’s concept of cosmic insignificance, the character finds relief in learning that humanity is of no consequence to the vast, uncaring universe. It turns out, pulling the rug out from under anthropocentrism is only horrifying to those who thought they were the center of everything to begin with. Ultimately, the character decides to pilot his ship into the unknown—and possibly into oblivion—instead of continuing on to worlds whose systems of governance and economy have violently oppressed him.
Splendor & Misery is one of Clipping’s most beloved releases, having earned praise from the likes of The New York Times, Bandcamp Daily, CLASH, The Line Of Best Fit, All Music, The Needle Drop, and Uproxx to being selected for year-end lists from the likes of PopMatters (“Best Hip Hop Albums of 2016”), The Observer (“10 Best Hip Hop Albums of 2016”), and Stereogum (“Best Rap Albums of 2016”).
Splendor & Misery would also be nominated for a Hugo Award for “Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form,” in 2017, being the second album to do so in the awards ceremony’s history. In 2019, Pitchfork ranked Splendor & Misery as one of “The 33 Best Industrial Albums of All Time.”
Clipping would also perform songs from Splendor & Misery on late-night TV, with appearances on former shows The Late Late Show with James Corden (“A Better Place”) and Conan (“Air Em Out”). Recently, the band performed the song “True Believer” (with special guest vocalist Sharon Udoh aka Counterfeit Madison) for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk series.
Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X) is now available to preorder on 2xLP from Sub Pop and Bandcamp. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com in North America, Mega Mart Europe in the UK and EU, and your local record store will receive the Metallic Silver colored vinyl (while supplies last).
What People Have Said About Clipping’s Splendor & Misery:
“The minimalistic, ice-cold production of Splendor & Misery feels like it’s been pulled back into the present from the future.” FLOOD
“…A fervent, chaotic and uncommonly beautiful noise-rap allegory about slave rebellion and computer love told through a futurist narrative that takes place in outer space.” New York Times
“A magnificent, nerve-jangling and altogether rather riveting blast of unflinching white noise and throb, virtuoso rapping and, most improbable of all, richly romantic gospel-choir interludes designed as much to disconcert as to offer tuneful respite from and guidance through the surrounding sonic shrapnel.” [9/10, Album of the Week] Loud & Quiet
“A hugely inventive slab of sonic theatre plotted to the tiniest detail..” ★★★★ MOJO
“Replete with sci-fi references and nudges to Afrofuturist musicians before them, the album confronts the crushing darkness inherent to the alienation of black diaspora and speculates on the identity as an intrinsically fluid process. Splendor & Misery is sincere and staunchly ambitious. With it, clipping. Have solidified their position at the forefront of experimental music.” 8.6/10, Northern Transmissions
“The production, helmed by dual composers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes, make use of field recording techniques only instead of chimes and sampled radio alarms, the sharp clangs of breached hulls and airlocks closing are the content used to create these paranoia inducing and dissonant instrumentals. What makes Splendor & Misery beckon for repeat listens, bar Daveed Diggs torrential flow, is how concise and dense the record is. It flows like a satellite in orbit, emerging over horizons witnessing serene beauty only to encounter disruptive asteroid belts moments later like the three ‘Interlude’ tracks where Daveed spits over broken and static-laced connections.” 8/10, CLASH
“Utterly uncomfortable, but with such an imaginative foundation that you can’t help but feel invited back to try to learn a little more about the strange and beautiful world of Clipping.” 8/10, Under the Radar
“Spirits are present in clipping.’s video for “Air ‘Em Out.” We open on frontman Daveed Diggs settling in to another shift at his jumpsuit-requiring place of employment. As the beat builds, however, mysterious tremors start to unsettle Diggs and the litany of office supplies at his desk. It’s another top-quality video from a group that has made a habit of just that, a simple idea perfectly executed.” [“Air ‘Em Out,” Best Videos of August 2016] Pigeons & Planes
“”Baby Don’t Sleep” is noisy, layered and absolutely frightening.” [“Baby Don’t Sleep”] NPR Music
“Beatmakers Snipes and Hutson send you plummeting into the mainframe with a musique concrète cut-up beat of television fuzz and white noise. Negative space sucks the air out of your chest as Diggs raps in an arresting staccato, deconstructing the hegemony in a most deliberate manner: “Saviors are fiction / memories are fading like ghosts.” [“Baby Don’t Sleep”] Passion of the Weiss
“The minimalistic, ice-cold production of Splendor & Misery feels like it’s been pulled back into the present from the future.” FLOOD
“…A fervent, chaotic and uncommonly beautiful noise-rap allegory about slave rebellion and computer love told through a futurist narrative that takes place in outer space.” New York Times
“A magnificent, nerve-jangling and altogether rather riveting blast of unflinching white noise and throb, virtuoso rapping and, most improbable of all, richly romantic gospel-choir interludes designed as much to disconcert as to offer tuneful respite from and guidance through the surrounding sonic shrapnel.” [9/10, Album of the Week] Loud & Quiet
“A hugely inventive slab of sonic theatre plotted to the tiniest detail..” ★★★★ MOJO
“Replete with sci-fi references and nudges to Afrofuturist musicians before them, the album confronts the crushing darkness inherent to the alienation of black diaspora and speculates on the identity as an intrinsically fluid process. Splendor & Misery is sincere and staunchly ambitious. With it, clipping. Have solidified their position at the forefront of experimental music.” 8.6/10, Northern Transmissions
“The production, helmed by dual composers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes, make use of field recording techniques only instead of chimes and sampled radio alarms, the sharp clangs of breached hulls and airlocks closing are the content used to create these paranoia inducing and dissonant instrumentals. What makes Splendor & Misery beckon for repeat listens, bar Daveed Diggs torrential flow, is how concise and dense the record is. It flows like a satellite in orbit, emerging over horizons witnessing serene beauty only to encounter disruptive asteroid belts moments later like the three ‘Interlude’ tracks where Daveed spits over broken and static-laced connections.” 8/10, CLASH
“Utterly uncomfortable, but with such an imaginative foundation that you can’t help but feel invited back to try to learn a little more about the strange and beautiful world of Clipping.” 8/10, Under the Radar
“Spirits are present in clipping.’s video for “Air ‘Em Out.” We open on frontman Daveed Diggs settling in to another shift at his jumpsuit-requiring place of employment. As the beat builds, however, mysterious tremors start to unsettle Diggs and the litany of office supplies at his desk. It’s another top-quality video from a group that has made a habit of just that, a simple idea perfectly executed.” [“Air ‘Em Out,” Best Videos of August 2016] Pigeons & Planes
“”Baby Don’t Sleep” is noisy, layered and absolutely frightening.” [“Baby Don’t Sleep”] NPR Music
“Beatmakers Snipes and Hutson send you plummeting into the mainframe with a musique concrète cut-up beat of television fuzz and white noise. Negative space sucks the air out of your chest as Diggs raps in an arresting staccato, deconstructing the hegemony in a most deliberate manner: “Saviors are fiction / memories are fading like ghosts.” [“Baby Don’t Sleep”] Passion of the Weiss
Clipping
Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X)
Tracklisting:
1. Long Way Away (Intro)
2. The Breach
3. All Black
4. Interlude 01 (Freestyle)
5. Wake Up
6. Long Way Away
7. Interlude 02 (Numbers)
8. True Believer
9. Long Way Home (instrumental)
10. Air ‘Em Out
11. Interlude 03 (Freestyle)
12. Break The Glass
13. Story 5
14. Baby Don’t Sleep
15. A Better Place
16. Long Way Away (Theremin & Piano)
17. Wogglebug (Instrumental)
18. Where Shall I Go
19. Machine Loop (Instrumental)
20. Story 5 (Harp)
21. Distant Radio Freestyle
22. Blerg (Instrumental)
23. Story 5 (Demo)
Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X)
Tracklisting:
1. Long Way Away (Intro)
2. The Breach
3. All Black
4. Interlude 01 (Freestyle)
5. Wake Up
6. Long Way Away
7. Interlude 02 (Numbers)
8. True Believer
9. Long Way Home (instrumental)
10. Air ‘Em Out
11. Interlude 03 (Freestyle)
12. Break The Glass
13. Story 5
14. Baby Don’t Sleep
15. A Better Place
16. Long Way Away (Theremin & Piano)
17. Wogglebug (Instrumental)
18. Where Shall I Go
19. Machine Loop (Instrumental)
20. Story 5 (Harp)
21. Distant Radio Freestyle
22. Blerg (Instrumental)
23. Story 5 (Demo)
