Durham band Sluice writes some of the sharpest lyrics in the Triangle

Driving the news: Sluice — whose third album "Companion" is out Friday — is part of a growing cluster of alt-country-tinged rock bands that has grown in Durham since the pandemic.

• Members of Sluice move back and forth between a collection of Durham-based bands, like Fust and Weirs, and collaborate with other North Carolina musicians like MJ Lenderman and Indigo de Souza, who have seen their stars rise in recent years.

What they're saying: "This is the first record I've made where I felt like there was a decent chance that someone would listen to it," Morris told Axios. "Everything else I've done before was pure expression and what was fun to do with my friends."

State of play: Sluice's last album — 2023's "Radial Gate" — came at a time when Morris, a Winston-Salem native who moved to Durham from New York in 2019, was questioning whether to even keep trying to release music, after a previous band dissolved.

• But then his music began to get a little more traction, with more listeners finding his work and national publications taking an interest in his work for the first time. The attention allowed Morris to up the production on the new album, which sounds fuller and more dynamic than his previous work.

What's next: Morris is currently in Idaho on tour as a member of Fust, as "Companion" is released.

• But he plans to hit the road again in May to showcase Sluice across the country, including a hometown stop at the Cat's Cradle Back Room on May 22.