News
Iguana Death Cult release their new single "Future Moments." March 15th will see the release of "Artificial Afterlife" which is the b side on a 7" by Rotterdam-based label Spazz Records.
At the beginning of 2020, everything seemed to be going well for Iguana Death Cult. Their second album Nude Casino was released via Innovative Leisure and received great reviews, a festival summer full of shows was planned with an additional 7 week tour in the United States. Until the pandemic threw a spanner in the works. "When the pandemic started, it took a while before we could motivate ourselves to start making music again. After pulling ourselves out of the creative vacuum, we started looking for a continuation of our musical identity." - Says guitarist Tobias Opschoor.
"Future Monuments" and "Artificial Afterlife" are the first songs where keyboardist/percussionist Jimmy de Kok was actively involved in the writing process since joining the band in 2019. This involvement has resulted in synth parts being intensely present in both songs, which is new for the band.
The new single "Future Monuments" deals with the question who the heroes of our future will be and how fast their statues will get torn down again. Frontman Jeroen Reek explains: “In a world as polarized as this, it’s pretty hard to tell I think. There are a lot of false, yet persuasive messiahs out there preaching their way into the minds of people that are looking for answers, for something to hold on to in this confusing day and age. It’s hard to not fall prey to these charlatans, to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to picking our leaders. This worries us. We made the song sound big and heroic so it feels like a proper epos”
"The music video is about the urge to transcend and leave a legacy. Why don't we all become a portrait? Why don't we all quit our jobs and follow our dreams? Why don't we all become statues? It takes guts to stop the wheel we are living in. Despite the fields of concrete, we cannot see beyond one block. Maybe it's time we all went back into the woods." - says Hector Garcia Martin, who made the clip.
"Open Channels," the bonus track taken from the vinyl version of BADBADNOTGOOD's album Talk Memory. Purchase the vinyl of Talk Memory here.
London-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Marc has shared a new song “This Time Next Year,” the latest advance track from his forthcoming Glass Effect album (out April 22 from Innovative Leisure). The heady track digs into Marc’s talents as a producer and arranger, meticulously layering looped snippets of acoustic guitar melodies amidst pulsing synth pads and a swaggering beat. The song’s profusion of influences is illustrative of Marc’s singular vision - one that charts his own musical journey from studying classical music, to becoming a key collaborator in the burgeoning London jazz scene, to learning dance and hip hop production techniques, and on.
For a pre-order of Glass Effect, visit Ben Marc's Bancamp page here.
"Bonsai" was also named Clash's song of the day.
"New song 'Bonsai' is - appropriately, given the title - a microcosm of her work, with the billowing house elements carrying a unique physicality. Heady, other-worldly stuff, 'Bonsai' grows organically, the lush horn elements augmented by the percussive rattle." - CLASH
"a clubby departure for Argirò, trading in clever chord changes for a hypnotic beat and swelling synth pads." - The FADER
On Forest City, Maria finds a glistening thread between these movements: where jazz meets Kelly Lee Owens, Jon Hopkins and Radiohead. It’s a concept record, about the “duality of nature and city”, where organic sounds and textures seem to flow above the urban sprawl.
Maria had finished writing the album before the first lockdown but the enforced isolation helped to give the music a sense of urgency, a longing to be immersed in the natural world and the buzz of the city at the same time. The songs always start as something she can play acoustically, that would work without the bells and whistles, and then she layers the atmosphere around them.
Though the album has dark undertones, it’s not all doom and gloom: in her earthy metropolis, a certain optimism glows through. “It’s about being conscious of the world we live in and how careful we need to be,” Maria explains. “At the end of the day, there is hope”.
Her new, warm and house-inflected single “Bonsai” came spontaneously. Maria reveals, “The main theme and melodies came out of an improvisation I had on my Yamaha CS reface over the first rhythmic synth idea. I remember trying many different sounds playing on my laptop, on Ableton and some VST, focussing on having a playful time rather than being too worried and conscious of the outcome. I wanted to create a playful dance floor track, but I also needed a drastic and big drop to happen at a certain point, like a wake-up call: the trumpet sounded like the best choice to get this “shouting” moment and drop. Like falling.”
Forest City was recorded and self-produced between her bedroom and her studio with the precious help of her longtime collaborators and electronic producers, In a Sleeping Mood and mixing engineer Alex Killpartrick. And, crucially, she is singing for the first time, too – her airy, otherworldly vocals on “Blossom” and “Clouds” especially resemble Emiliana Torrini or a singer in a smoky, late-night club, alone under the spotlight on the stage.
Opening track “Home” sets up the shadowy textural claustrophobia of the city, its melancholic piano evoking raindrops on crowded pavement; then the album evolves into a mesmeric journey spanning downbeat trip-hop, all skittering drums and warped trumpet (“Forest City”), dream-like, folkier songwriting (“Greenarp”, which was named after the arpeggios she created on her beloved Organelle synth), shoegazey alt-pop, punctured by poignant brass solos (“Blossom”) and beguiling jazztronica that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Jamie XX set (“Clouds”).
Forest City sees its release via Innovative Leisure on May 6th. To pre-order / pre-save the album, go here.
This month, Maria is wrapping up a UK tour with Emma-Jean Thackery - more dates to be announced.
London-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Marc has shared another single from his forthcoming Glass Effect album (out this Spring from Innovative Leisure). “Sometimes Slow” pairs a virtuosic skittering drum performance with a circling xylophone pattern that opens up with layers of guitar, synths, and looping percussion. Alongside previous album singles “Mustard,” “Give Me Time,” and “The Way We Are,” the new song is illustrative of his singular vision, unifying a profusion of influences (that chart his personal journey from the concert hall, to the jazz club, to the dance club, and back) into a sublime whole, underscoring the evolution of his quest for a distinctive sound: lambent, low-key, and dizzyingly intricate. https://smarturl.it/BM_sometimesslow
See a recent piece on Edition where Ben Marc breaks down his top 5 most influential albums.