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'Flood The Zone' by Tara Craig and Goodbye, Beautiful was featured on the Island Time broadcast.
BY MIKE MINEO
OCTOBER 30, 2025
Two new singles from longtime collaborators Goodbye, Beautiful and Tara Craig captivate with their urgency and anthemic rock spirit. Released as a limited edition 7″ vinyl with all profits donated to The Trevor Project and the ACLU, “Flood The Zone” and “Gilded Bastards” succeed with their melodic prowess and intertwined thematic pursuits — both capturing darkening societal decay, driven by greed and immoral leadership, while differing in deliveries of empowerment and escapism, respectively.
“Flood The Zone” commences with a post-punk sturdiness, as clanging guitars and panting percussion invigorate. An anthemic rock disposition then takes hold, as Craig’s vocals recount a portrait of modern political tumults — “Nazi salutes, power suits, Trump and Elon in cahoots” — with infectious edge. Rather than wallowing in the darkness, though, the track inspires with its positive messaging and emphasis of personal power. “Tyrants can’t thrive, where there’s strong communities, people acting with joy,” Craig sings during the excitable hook. “They need our despair and anger to rise. Turn off the noise. Cut off their supply.” The title-bearing call to “flood the zone with irresistible joy” and overwhelm darkness plays with cathartic, enthralling immersion.
Similarly gripping though set within an angstier grit, “Gilded Bastards” compels with its frustrations on a current “hellscape” and pleas to “get me out of here.” Its escapist alt-rock tendencies are compelling throughout, particularly during the “shitting on golden thrones” segment — the guitars there reminding fondly of Johnny Marr in its moody maneuvering. “Gilded Bastards” proves riveting in its reckoning with a world full of greed, lies, and manipulation. Both tracks from this collaborative team excel with powerfully poignant thematic sentiments and a fervent rock entrancement.
Review by Caleb Alexander, B-Side Guys
Marco Arroyo and Tara Craig’s vinyl release, Flood The Zone / Gilded Bastards, features two dynamic tracks confronting chaos, with profits aiding The Trevor Project and ACLU
Two songs, one piece of vinyl, opposing forces. The partnership between Marco Arroyo’s Goodbye, Beautiful project and Tara Craig—which previously yielded the Hang Fire EP’s atmospheric reimaginings—returns with stark purpose. Flood The Zone / Gilded Bastardscaptures 2025’s emotional whiplash in seven-inch format, pairing hope against fury, unity against defiance. All profits from this limited vinyl pressing go to The Trevor Project and The ACLU, transforming artistic response into direct action.
“Flood The Zone” emerged early in the year when both artists were actively searching for light during heavy times. The track functions as anthem without descending into empty uplift—it carries weight because it acknowledges what it’s pushing against. Arroyo’s production, honed through two decades of boundary-defying work across various projects, creates expansive space that refuses to feel escapist. Craig’s vocal performance channels the folk-pop and singer-songwriter roots she’s known for, but the arrangement points toward something larger than individual experience. The song advocates for togetherness and resilience not as abstract concepts but as practical strategies against chaos.
The collaboration process continues the cross-state methodology that has defined Arroyo’s recent partnerships—writing and recording from different locations (Arroyo in Austin, Craig in Friday Harbor, Washington) yet achieving immediacy that suggests shared physical space. That geographic separation served Arroyo’s previous work well: the Hang Fire EP with Meg Baier in Sedona transformed his instrumental compositions into intimate atmospheric pieces, while his earlier partnership with Craig yielded her self-titled album. Here, the long-distance approach takes on different meaning. When the world feels fractured, creating unity through deliberate remote partnership becomes its own statement.
“Gilded Bastards” arrived as the year darkened and circumstances demanded counterbalance. Where the A-side uplifts, the B-side burns. Craig steps entirely outside her established territory here—this is high-energy rock from an artist recognized for intimate folk confessionals and experimental vulnerability. Her self-titled album, created through her earlier partnership with Arroyo, showcased someone willing to excavate self through spiraling smoke and phantom movements, using whispers and wrecking-ball vocals to expose neglected recesses. That album moved through moody serenity and radiant vulnerability, tracing real misery around its edges with songs like “Forgotten Home” where she wept “I’ve lost so much / I’m not sure I can keep anything.”
“Gilded Bastards” trades all that careful excavation for blunt force. The urgency of the moment gave Craig something sharp to say, and she delivers it without her typical measured approach. The track transforms frustration into defiance, channeling rage that her previous work acknowledged but rarely weaponized. For listeners familiar with that vulnerability on her self-titled album, this new directness hits differently. Sometimes circumstances require putting aside nuance.
Arroyo’s production on “Gilded Bastards” maintains the textural depth that made his instrumental foundations so compelling while allowing Craig’s performance to dominate. His experience crafting atmospheric soundscapes doesn’t disappear—it just redirects toward supporting raw energy rather than creating contemplative space. The result sounds bold and blistering, descriptions rarely applied to either artist’s catalog but entirely appropriate here.
The deliberate pairing as A-side/B-side rather than separate singles creates conversation between tracks. Vinyl format enforces that relationship—you can’t shuffle past the unity to get to the defiance, or vice versa. The physical medium matters here, demanding listeners engage with both emotional registers in sequence. That choice reflects understanding that hope and resistance aren’t opposites but requirements, different strategies for the same survival.
The charitable component adds dimension without becoming the story. Donating all profits to The Trevor Project and The ACLU transforms these songs from artistic statement into material support. The organizations chosen aren’t random—The Trevor Project provides crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth, while the ACLU defends civil liberties under threat. The donation targets suggest what specific chaos these songs push against, what darkness prompted the need for both unity and defiance.
Limited vinyl pressing creates scarcity by design, turning the release into event rather than permanent catalog addition. Collectors and supporters must act rather than streaming passively. That approach suits material created from urgent response—these songs document specific moment in time, packaged as artifact that acknowledges its own temporality while hoping its messages remain relevant longer than we’d prefer.
Craig and Arroyo’s collaboration continues proving that geographic separation enables rather than hinders certain creative partnerships. Their previous work on Hang Firetransformed Arroyo’s instrumental compositions through Craig’s lyrics and melodies, creating intimate collaboration that defied distance. Those tracks—”Distress Signals,” “How Will Grief Look on You,” “Never Forget,” “Terroir”—existed in liminal spaces between states and genres, demonstrating how different landscapes shape artistic expression.
Flood The Zone / Gilded Bastards operates with less ambiguity. The songs know exactly what they’re doing and execute without hesitation. “Flood The Zone” reminds that togetherness can push back against chaos. “Gilded Bastards” demonstrates what to do when pushing back requires force. Together on seven inches of vinyl, profits redirected to organizations defending the vulnerable, they document how artists respond when circumstances demand more than observation. Sometimes collaboration means creating sanctuary. Sometimes it means creating weapons. This release does both.
review by Bee Delores, B-Sides & Badlands
Tara Craig and Goodbye, Beautiful electrify with their new collaborative singles. “Flood the Zone” and “Gilded Bastards” serve as necessary, barn-burning rallying cries for the exhausting times in which we find ourselves. As every single day feels like the end of the road, music remains a connective tissue to the human experience and often re-energizes us to dig deeper and let our voices be known. An earth-vibrating roar echoes throughout the two new tracks — one of hope and the other of fearless resistance. Together, they form a volatile mix of raw humanity caught in a wire trap, and all you want to really do is torch the earth.
“Flood the Zone” thumps with the pitter-patter of percussion and a guitar’s blistering moans. With her reedy vocals, Craig cuts down deep into her anger to excavate the hope she still carries around in her heart. The ravages of mankind won’t kill the compassion and empathy we so desperately need in 2025. Conversely, “Gilded Bastard” leans into the venomous, rage-filled anger coursing in her veins. It’s no time to sit idly by; it’s time to forge ahead for a better tomorrow.
The two new songs will be issued on limited edition 7″ vinyl and are available on Bandcamp, with all profits donated to The Trevor Project and The ACLU.
Opposing emotional states have always been fertile ground for artists—joy and sorrow, love and hate—the kind of dichotomies that produce work capable of resonating across audiences and inspiring new creative generations. Yet the collaboration between Tara Craig and Goodbye, Beautiful approaches this terrain from a distinctly utilitarian angle. These two new tracks function as sonic blueprints for transformation. Read full review
Hi friends,
I’m so excited to share something new and meaningful with you. Goodbye, Beautiful (Marco Arroyo) and I have released two new songs that feel like opposite sides of the same coin.
At the start of the year, searching for light in heavy times, we wrote “Flood The Zone.” It’s rooted in unity and hope, carrying the spirit of an anthem—a reminder that togetherness and resilience can push back against chaos.
As the year unfolded and circumstances grew darker, we asked ourselves what the counterbalance might be. The answer came in “Gilded Bastards,” a raw, driving track that turns frustration into defiance. Where “Flood The Zone” uplifts, “Gilded Bastards” burns.
For me, stepping out of my folk-pop and singer-songwriter roots into high-energy rock was unexpected, but the urgency of the moment gave me something sharp to say. The result is bold, blistering, and unlike anything I’ve done before. Even though we wrote and recorded from different states, these songs still feel like they were created in the same room—immediate, natural, and alive. Together, they reveal the duality of hope and resistance.
I’m proud to share that they’re available today on Bandcamp as a limited edition 7" vinyl, with all profits donated to The Trevor Project and The ACLU.
✨ Order your copy now on Bandcamp
Additionally, both “Flood The Zone” and “Gilded Bastards” are also streaming everywhere you listen to music— Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and more.
Thank you for being here, for listening, and for standing with me in turning music into action.
With gratitude,
Tara
The TARA CRAIG Trio has been working hard and is thrilled to play for you this summer!
The Hangar Sessions were recorded at an airport hangar in Friday Harbor, WA on December 14, 2024.
Tara Craig moves like a phantom. Her voice charges through the spiraling smoke of existence. Her penmanship is equally as affecting. Just listen to her self-titled sophomore album. Stacked with intricacies, the nine-song project crawls under your skin in its excavation of self. While she boldly pushes experimental boundaries, her lyrics remain raw – as though these confessions and self-extracted lullabies are life and death entries of her human story. Craig keeps the album themes close to the vest, allowing the listener to parse their own meanings and intentions. As if words etched in marble, Tara Craig arrives as a necessary salve to today’s troubling times and a remarkable step forward in indie/folk music.
