Calgary post-punk outfit Preoccupations have shared a video for “Compliance,” the epic instrumental closer of their 2018 album New Material. The black-and-white video was directed by Nicholas Brown and Evan Henderson, and follows a forest spirit named Mariah as she explores a post-apocalyptic universe.
“Mariah has awakened from eons of slumber to a world that has long been abandoned by humans and heavily mutated by their waste and consumption,” Preoccupations say of the video in a statement. “As Mariah struggles to make sense of this new world, she grieves for the one she has lost forever. The Mariah creature was painstakingly designed and constructed by Brown, portrayed by Henderson, and captured by the haunting and beautiful cinematography of Adam Stewart. ‘Compliance’ brings a close to this chapter of the band as we look towards the future and marvel at the new heights their music will take.”
Along with the video, Preoccupations have also announced a string of tour dates for this spring that cover much of southern and western Europe.
Preoccupations, the post-punk band formerly known as Viet Cong, released the follow-up to their 2016 self-titled album.
And the circle is complete. Any Preoccupations fan will understand what these words mean, as the band’s latest album, New Material, completes a trilogy that began with Viet Cong (when they were known under that name) and continued with 2016’s self-titled album. Like the previous two, New Material is a dark, bleak, and trembling concept album that shakes the listener to the core.
The hypnotic “Antidote” is like a hallucinogenic, except this place is harrowing and mechanical. Front man Matt Flegel’s loopy and robotic vocals mirror his lyrics about the information overload that destroys and the narcissism that governs us. The eerie and trance-like “Doubt” addresses the notion of how we are followers to the world order. This act of obedience can only be interpreted as “Compliance”, which is a gruelling, industrial number.
Preoccupations, however, are masters of contrast to tell their stories. On “Disarray”, they offer a beacon of light into their darkness – at least musically. It all feels like a dream, but the story is a nightmare, as Flegel solemnly hollers, “Everything you’ve been told is a lie”. These lies are further accentuated on the gripping, stark, and emotional “Manipulation”. The roaring, Joy Division-esque “Espionage”, meanwhile, explains how the manipulation is ingrained into our psyche and morals. We are told we are valuable, which is true until we become expendable and don’t fit the norm. Still we strive for acceptance, as revealed on the mysterious and enchanting “Decompose”.
New Material is more than just an album. It is a psychological and sociological examination of recent history and the state of today’s world. Through different prisms and perspectives while playing on our deepest emotions, fears, and hopes, Preoccupations tell us things we need to hear before it’s too late. They seek to open our eyes before it’s all too late. There are very few bands who challenge people in so many ways, and Preoccupations are the gurus of this unique art.
The new record entitled, New Material, available March 23rd and is accompanied by the lead single ‘Espionage’.
Preoccupations are Matt Flegel (vocals/bass), Scott Munro (guitar/synth), Daniel Christiansen (guitar), and Mike Wallace (drums).
New Material is out now via Jagjaguwar and Flemish Eye.
Preoccupations kick things off on a decidedly ‘80s note with “Espionage,” the synths, skeletal beat, and Matt Flegel’s dramatic vocals sounding like a twisted, bleaker version of Depeche Mode. It’s dark and grinding, but still so danceable it could be an alternate soundtrack the scene in The Breakfast Club where they’re all gettin’ down cue Judd Nelson hanging off of that weird hand statue thing. On “Decompose,” the unrelenting, singular beat from Mike Wallace’s drums and the solitary, swiped chord of some kind of eastern harp are softened by Flegel’s pointedly dreamy vocals, the only relief from the cyclical, driving rhythm getting beaten in to your skull. Sonically, “Disarray” takes a nod or two from the “Disorder” version of Joy Division. Lyrically, it’s a study in harnessing the chaos and discord of life, while acknowledging the futility of doing so. Flegel sings the title over and over, making a pattern of a word whose definition means exactly the opposite.
The members of Preoccupations have always confidently followed their own rules as they straddle the line between humanity and the brutish force of their music. Examinations of creation, destruction and the ways that we often practice the two in vain have regularly been tethered to the Canadian post-punk band’s work—even going back to their days as Viet Cong. And while that’s quite a downcast undertaking, it’s one that goes hand-in-hand with Preoccupations’ dystopian-future-sounding music. With their third LP, New Material, they dive into it headlong, kicking things off on a decidedly ’80s note with “Espionage,” the synths, skeletal beat, and Flegel’s dramatic vocals sounding like a twisted, bleaker version of Depeche Mode. It’s dark and grinding, but still so danceable it could be an alternate soundtrack the scene in The Breakfast Club where they’re all gettin’ down—cue Judd Nelson hanging off of that weird hand-statue thing.
Preoccupations – “Espionage” from ‘New Material’, out March 23rd, 2018 on Jagjaguwar Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 