SKYND

WATCH: SKYND – ‘Jim Jones’

An industrial spiked exploration of how manipulative the human mind can be; SKYND have shared a video for their latest single ‘Jim Jones’. The duo – formed of vocalist SKYND and producer Father – are inspired by true crime, so far sharing tracks about infamous serial killers and their victims including ‘Elisa Lam’, ‘Gary Heidnik’ and ‘Richard Ramirez’.

Both their sound and aesthetic are intensely dark and unsettling, and their new material is no exception. Speaking about the new single, SKYND explains: “I always wanted to write about Jim Jones because I’ve long been fascinated by how easily people are manipulated when it comes to religion. It was interesting how people followed him while ignoring all of the facts to the contrary about who he truly was.We put the facts of the story into music. I was also intrigued by the audio tapes of him talking his followers into suicide, I knew I had to write about it.”

Producer Father also offers some insight in to the song’s context: “Although this horrible mass suicide happened 30 years ago, this case, at its core, is more relevant than ever. Where it has always been easy for religious leaders and governments to brainwash people, it became very easy for the silver-tongued Joe Blow to do so in recent years through the help of social media and the internet. Through the invention of the World Wide Web, we’ve been promised the age of information, which ironically became the age of misinformation. It is now harder than ever to tell the difference between the facts and what’s fake. Could this development lead to a fatal event like in 1979, but on a global scale? It’s harder to imagine that it couldn’t.”

SKYND’s uncompromising vision and wariness of the warped minds of others has culminated in a fascinating new video for ‘Jim Jones’. Watch the visuals below and follow SKYND on Facebook for more updates.

SKYND UK Live Dates 2019
5/9 — The Great Escape — Brighton
6/14 — Download Festival — Donnington

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: ZAMILSKA – ‘Hollow’

Dense, rhythmic, hypnotic beats permeate Polish producer ZAMILSKA‘s new single ‘Hollow’, the first track released from her upcoming album due later this summer. The jagged soundscape combines techno textures and intriguing vocal samples to reflect “the anxiety of what we want vs what we get”.

From Silesia, the coal-mining region of Poland, Natalia Zamilska’s music combines both melodic and industrial elements in a beautiful yet brutal fashion. Her work has attracted the attention of Nine Inch Nails, who recommended one of her tracks on their official Spotify playlist and recently she stepped into the gaming world and contributed to RUINER (Digital Dragon Award 2018 winner Best Polish Game Soundtrack), which features her music heavily throughout.

ZAMILSKA has also garnered acclaim from Radio BBC 6 Music’s Iggy Pop, Mary Anne Hobbs and Tom Ravenscroft, and with her superb remix of Gazelle Twin’s ‘Belly of the Beast’ which was played on the ABC series How To Get Away With Murder.

With her ability to create beats that ricochet around our skulls and her obvious talent for collaborating, we’re biting our nails in anticipation of ZAMILSKA’s upcoming record. Listen to ‘Hollow’ below and follow ZAMILSKA on Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LIVE: The Soft Moon (w/ HIDE) – Scala, 28.11.18

Discomfort and insecurity found it’s niche on Scala’s stage on Wednesday night, as HIDE and The Soft Moon both flourished under the venue’s smoke and strobe lights. With a sound and a stage set-up reminiscent of the likes of Nine Inch Nails, The Cure & Fever Ray, both bands performed an intense and manic set, fueled by the attention of their captivated crowd.

Opening duo HIDE were a force to be reckoned with. Together, Seth Sher &
Heather Gabel create clear, vital, smothering waves of industrial electronic sound. Gabel’s warped but powerful vocals were accompanied by hair flicks and body spasms, which made for compelling viewing. She took barely a breath between songs, but the audience applauded anyway, as she stylishly staggered through the smoke and strobes with perilous purpose. Tracks like ‘Close Your Eyes’ – taken from HIDE’s debut album Castration Anxiety – echoed around the venue with angst-ridden intensity. Despite knowing only a handful of tracks, we were hooked from start to finish.

Headliner The Soft Moon (aka Luis Vasquez) delivered his most powerful set to date in the capital this year. His clear vocals, and the raw energy of his live band kept the set flowing seamlessly from track to track. Highlights included ‘Criminal’, the title track of his latest album, as well ‘Like A Father’ – the sound of which we can’t get out of our heads. Whilst his performance supporting My Bloody Valentine at Robert Smith’s Meltdown Festival earlier this year was compelling, The Soft Moon’s music is best appreciated in an intimate venue like Scala. The accompanying light show made it all the more fascinating; amidst flashes, spotlights, and strobes the crowd happily jumped around to ‘Burn’ and ‘Choke’, and Vasquez fed off their fire.

Despite the complex and often tortured nature of The Soft Moon’s songs, there was no self-flagellation in his delivery on stage. Vasquez performed tracks from his earlier records with the same energy as his latest work, and his confident, energetic performance removed the sense of insecurity that permeates his music. Whether he was face-to-face with his microphone, riffing on his guitar, or pounding the living hell out of a trash can – Vasquez looked entirely at home in his electronic world.

Together, HIDE and The Soft Moon gave primal, urgent, gripping sets on Wednesday night, and we’re eagerly anticipating their return to the UK in 2019.

Follow HIDE and The Soft Moon on Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Marion Costentin

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: EVVOL – ‘Release Me’

Electronic duo Evvol have teamed up with fellow Berlin-based, American filmmaker Matt Lambert to create erotic visuals for their new single ‘Release Me’. The video tackles the under-representation of queer females in mainstream media and censorship of female bodies, providing a docu-style insight into the lives of a group of queer women in Berlin.

“Queer women should be equally as strong and loud as gay boys,” says Director Matt. “They should be powerful in their sexuality and not hidden in the way some people perceive queer women to be.” “Exactly”, agrees co-director Julie Chance (Evvol). “On a personal level, my main problem with different types of media is I don’t see people like myself represented on screen, and I think it’s really important to address this.”

‘Release Me’ was shared as a double single with second track ‘Oceania’ via !K7 Records at the beginning of June. It follows the pair’s critically acclaimed debut album Eternalism (2015), and their 2016 EP release, Physical L.U.V. Like many artist’s today, Evvol spent most of their time post-2016 feeling “overwhelmed by the social upheaval in the world,” so they embarked on other creative endeavours, before returning with a fresh perspective and four new songs.

“These songs were written looking inwardly at how we cope when faced with challenges,” say the band. ‘Release Me’ and ‘Oceania’ will be closely followed by ‘Song for the Broken Hearted (Rollin’)’ and ‘New Old’, and we’re excited to hear more of their arty electronica.

Watch the video for ‘Release Me’ below and follow Evvol on Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Wilkosz & Way

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment