Track Of The Day: Brutus – ‘What Have We Done’

An urgent, cathartic anthem fueled by the need to “dig deeper and go the extra mile,” Belgian heavy trio Brutus have shared their latest single ‘What Have We Done’. Taken from their upcoming third album Unison Life, which is set for release on 21st October via Hassle Records/Sargent House, the track is a powerful combination of raw vocals, candid lyrics, commanding riffs and powerhouse drumming, that reflect the overwhelming need to break the cycle of repetitive thought patterns.

“‘What Have We Done’ started with just the guitar, the Moog synth (playing the bassline), and one verse of the lyrics. But we felt this was something special that we needed to take the time to get right,” explains vocalist and drummer Stefanie Mannaerts. “When we continued working on this song, there was this unspoken pressure to go further musically…to finish the track.

For some reason, this new piece of music felt like both a turning point and an intersection. In our history of being a band, this feeling came only a few times before, with the songs ‘Bearclaws’, ‘Justice de Julia II’ and ‘War’. Key songs such as these are challenging, but also feel like coming home at the same time. They define who you are as a band. The song embodies what was going on at the time of writing, in the middle of the pandemic. It is about suffering for too long and you have had enough. The verse echoes the mutual feeling we sometimes have as humans with too much going on in our heads and getting stuck in the same loop.”

Dissecting the darker parts of the emotional spectrum was the focus for the songs that formed Brutus’ upcoming album, Unison Life. “I wanted every song to feel like the last song we’ll ever write,” Mannaerts comments about its conception. “It killed me inside because it’s almost an impossibly high standard, but that was my personal goal for this album.” This version of “better” has manifested itself in Brutus’ knockout singles ‘Dust’, ‘Liar’ and ‘Victoria‘, with latest cut ‘What Have We Done’ continuing to hit the “impossibly high standard” that the band originally set for themselves.

The new single is accompanied by a video, shot by Jonas Hollevoet, showing the band doing what they do best whilst performing at two of their favourite festivals, Rock Herk and Lokerse Feesten.

Watch the video for ‘What Have We Done’ below.

Pre-order your copy of Brutus’ new album Unison Life here

BRUTUS UK Tour Dates 2022
16th Nov – Bristol, The Fleece
17th Nov – Manchester, Rebellion
18th Nov – Glasgow, Audio
19th Nov – Leeds, Lending Room
21st Nov – Brighton, Patterns
22nd Nov – London, The Garage

A full list of Brutus’ European dates for 2023 can be found here

Follow Brutus on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

Photo Credit: Kemizz

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Helen Ganya – ‘young girls never die’

An electronic exploration of the pain and endurance that women face in their struggle for self-autonomy, ‘young girls never die’ is the latest single from Brighton-based artist Helen Ganya. Taken from her upcoming album polish the machine, which is set for release on 18th November via Bella Union, Ganya has taken the unsettling, sexist double standards surrounding ageing and dismantled them over glitchy beats, crystalline vocals and jagged electronics.

“Someone made a graph of a male celebrity which showed that as he continued to age his girlfriends stayed the same age,” Ganya comments about the inspiration behind her new track. “This vision kept sticking with me and I saw it everywhere – of the individual girl not allowed to grow, replaceable when she does. All the while our collective insides rot from a lack of full autonomy. The individual girl is often not allowed to grow. Instead there’s this sort of festering.” This “festering” is epitomised in Ganya’s candid lyrical motif: “young girls never die / they just rot inside.”

On her upcoming album polish the machine, Ganya – who previously performed under the moniker Dog in the Snow – seeks to unravel the toxic societal and patriarchal threads that have bound her, and weave a new narrative, edging more towards hope and truth. “I’ve always slightly feared the ordinary,” Ganya comments, “It never really represented how I feel and how many people feel.” With ‘young girls never die’ and across her new record, Ganya carves out her new version of “ordinary” with tact and grace.

Listen to ‘young girls never die’ below.

Follow Helen Ganya on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Helen Ganya UK Tour Dates 2022
Tuesday 25th October – London – Paper Dress Vintage
Wednesday 7th December – Brighton – Folklore Rooms

Photo Credit: Nicole Ngai

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Yanna A – ‘Vigilant’ / ‘Lift Me Up’

The opening 30 seconds of ‘Vigilant‘ has me waiting for the explosion of a techno-flavoured dancefloor banger. But prepare to be surprised as Yanna A throws listeners off guard and veers into a haunting vocal breakdown ahead of expansive instrumentation flowing to the forefront. Before we even have a chance to appraise what we’re listening to, the outro kicks in, hastily covering its tracks and driving off in a completely different direction.

Inspired by Grimes, FKA Twigs, Eartheater and Little Simz, ‘Vigilant’ has a contemporary electro feel and clocks in at under two and a half minutes. Perfect music for those whose attention is easily diverted and want something fresh constantly assaulting their senses, as it really does feel like three songs rolled into one. 

Speaking of the double A-side single, Yanna says, “The concept of ‘Vigilant’ was initially about general anxiety, as well as the comedown of it on ‘Lift Me Up’. But looking back now, I think this was a real expression of how I was feeling during the COVID pandemic, as all my flatmates had gone back home and I was basically stuck in a house alone for five months… People actually ran away from me in supermarket aisles and on park pathways! It got bad and I was on beta blockers for panic attacks. London was truly a ghost town.”

Flipside, ‘Lift Me Up‘, is classic Yanna A, with a nod to Smashing Pumpkins and Kristin Hersh. Vulnerable lyrics sing tenderly of recovering from sorrow and the journey of coming out the other side, having reached acceptance and grown from the experience. All of this is set to a beautiful acoustic guitar backdrop which builds with elevating vocal harmonies into searing reverb and gunshot beats.

A gloriously uplifting song indeed and the perfect tonic for life’s woes. Yanna says, “The song really just breathed from me without much thought! I think, after so much of that anxiety, I was really looking for solace and peace in my spirituality. I believe in nature as my higher power and I tend to follow the natural cycles, so this song was a response to that. After all the chaos and fear comes calm and clarity, always. We, as living beings, are in cycles and learning to trust those cycles and processes are important to me“.

You can download Yanna A’s music from Bandcamp and find out about her upcoming releases on Facebook and Instagram. ‘Vigilant’ and ‘Lift Me Up’ were mixed by Joe Futak. 

Mandy Bang

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Track Of The Day: Projector – ‘NON’

A gritty, urgent blend of candid vocals and heavy riffs that tackle the nihilistic frustrations surrounding the way we are perceived, Brighton-based trio Projector have shared their latest single, ‘NON’. Following on from their previous release ‘Hell In My Head’, the band have unleashed another biting offering that tackles the weight of misconception via brooding, swirling sounds and an anthemic chorus.

“’NON’ is a song about expectation, feeling miss-sold as a good person, pulled in two directions and getting nowhere,” explains vocalist and guitarist Edward Ensbury. Recorded, produced, and mixed by the band themselves, ‘NON’ is a complete nosedive into Projector’s alternative sound, commanded by the charged percussion of drummer Cal Marinho.

The new single is also accompanied by a video, shot, directed by and starring the band. Despite the playful nature of the visuals, vocalist and bassist Lucy Sheehan explains that there’s a punk practicality behind the video’s conception: “I always loved those bands who were like a punk collective, finding ways to do everything themselves. The industry isn’t a friendly place for musicians financially – costs are going up and our fees and revenues are going down – so bands are going DIY again.”

After recently returning from a European tour with Canadian alt-rockers Cleopatrick, Projector are now playing headline shows across the UK, including London’s Moth Club on 7th October.

Watch the video for ‘NON’ below.

Follow Projector on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Projector UK Tour Dates 2022
5th Oct – Bodega, Nottingham
6th Oct – Heartbreakers, Southampton
7th Oct – Moth Club, London
8th Oct – The Crypt, Hastings

Photo credit: Libby Malandrone

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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