New York City post-punk outfit Blacklist unveiled their new offering for the season of the witch: the hauntingly beautiful “Lovers In Mourning,” from their LP Afterworld.
Taking influence from My Bloody Valentine, Motörhead, Comsat Angels, Killing Joke, and The Sound, singer Joshua Strachan’s (Vaura) lyrics split the difference between the anthemic manifestos of Manic Street Preachers and Sisters of Mercy’s “Vision Thing.”
The chorus references “star-crossed lovers,” a well-known expression from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, as well as an astrological reference where what one desires isn’t mapped out in the stars’ destination. Strachan became interested in paying homage to standbys like “Bloodletting” by Concrete Blonde and “Black No. 1″ by Type O Negative, to reveal layers of authentic inner life that connect to humanity’s deepest emotional turmoil. A collaboration with Pieter Nooten of Clan of Xymox taught him more about arrangement and dynamics.
“When I say “stars crossed don’t mean anything,” it’s about feeling doomed, but also rejecting that hopelessness,” says Strachan. “At the time, I found myself relating to very familiar vampire films like The Hunger in a new way, as characters who have experienced eons of isolation from the wider world, for whom love is complicated or maybe impossible.
The beautiful monochromatic video, directed by Joan Pope and filmed in Leipzig Germany, is set in a cemetery, as the band explores mausoleums and other tributes of lost love. Pope’s signature symbolism appears throughout, creating an eerie bridge between the mortal and spirit worlds.
Watch the video for “Lovers in Mourning” below:
Blacklist’s debut LP, Midnight of the Century – produced by Ed Buller (Suede, Pulp) – was released in 2009. The album’s main focus was a rejection of what Strachan described as a fear of looming new forms of fascism aided by the rise of various political and religious dogmas. After a long hiatus, the band returned in the summer of 2020 with the “Disorder” single, inspired by the racial justice protests in the United States, and the B-Side “No Secret Islands,” which takes aim at the dystopian fantasies of tech billionaires.
In April of 2022, “The Final Resistance” was announced as the lead single from an upcoming LP, “Afterworld,” due to be released in late autumn via Profound Lore Records. The album, produced by Strachan and mixed by Sanford Parker (Darkthrone, Yob, BLOODYMINDED), explores the possible meanings of love in a time of political and environmental collapse.
Afterworld is out on October 28th, 2022.
