German post punk band SMILE have dropped their new single “Protection” and its accompanying video.
The song is taken from their forthcoming debut album “Price of Progress“, which will hit the stores on October 13th through Siluh Records. Get it here.
According to the press, Protection is probably the most idiosyncratic piece on the record, vocally oscillating between Blood Orange and bands like Siouxsie & The Banshees or Bow Wow Wow, with a wide and intense palette that brings in a The Fall-esque wit and becomes a roller coaster between the emotions conveyed. Guitarist Lars Fritzsche wrote the piece with the aim of creating a classic hit (successful, if not classic! ), and the openness of the song created a perfect surface that now brings together several voices of the band. In the center is Rubee, who performs a text here that lets her poetic brilliance shine between dream and cut-up.
Watch the Anna Ansone-directed video below.
With Price of Progress, SMILE light-footedly show that post punk can still sound refreshing in 2023. They don’t take their references as dogma, remain experimental, stubborn. Narrative, catchy, rough and cuddly, the subtle, poetic observations of singer Rubee True Fegan (USA) merge with the accomplished sound of a band that producer Olaf Opal has put exactly where it belongs: on the starting block of innovative, clever and sensual guitar music.
Price of Progress Tracklist:
- Dog in the Manger
- Säge
- Commuter
- Stalemate
- Machine Dreaming
- Produce
- Herrengedeck
- Protection
- Doohickey
- Hungry Ghosts
Photo credit: Aminah Falah
