The concept of “bread and circuses” as a means of social control has been around since the term was coined by Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century AD, but as human nature is eternal, it finds a sophisticated counterpart in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. In Huxley’s dystopian future, the government employs advanced technology, psychological manipulation, and a constant stream of pleasure-inducing activities to maintain societal order and prevent dissent. This world is characterized by the suppression of individual thought and the discouragement of critical engagement through the use of soma, a drug providing escape from reality, and a culture saturated with trivial entertainment and instant gratification. These methods distract from underlying social issues and personal freedoms, ensuring a passive and compliant population. By integrating it into every aspect of life, a dissonant society emerges where the very notion of discontent is virtually eradicated, and the concept of personal fulfillment is defined by the ruling class.
JUJU, the alter-ego of Sicilian multi-instrumentalist and producer Gioele Valenti, flanked by band members Vincenzo Schillaci and Andrea Chentrens, addresses these concerns throughout their upcoming album APOCALYPSE IS GOD’S SPOILER, scheduled for launch on March 15th via UK label Sister 9. APOCALYPSE IS GOD’S SPOILER appears to encapsulate a clear-eyed and disillusioned perspective on our current era, reflecting a world saturated with mass-media, terminal hedonism, and pervasive total war. Their newest track from the album, Dead At 25, showcases the remarkable talents of guest artists Chad Channing (Nirvana) and Luca Giovanardi (Julie’s Haircut) while channeling the distinct vibes of Depeche Mode and The Doors.
“The song paints a fresco on a modern condition: an exasperated tendency towards hedonism, in the heart of a neoliberal civilization, in which everything is a mathematical function of money,” Valenti reflects. “A boy can die in war… another can perish from a trip that ended badly, in a seedy nightclub. The place where you are born determines the directions of your entire existence. What unites these two deaths is the denial of any natural right, other than that of dying. The video stages images of a society committed to running towards nowhere. Speed, money, fake fun, the delirium of a mind adrift. The images of people in the discoteque, lost among shamanic rhythms and psychedelic lights conflict with a total war ending. The same society that plies you with panem et circenses is the same one that sends you to die, like cannon fodder, for someone else’s profit. It really seems to be the Apocalypse. And this is the spoiler, like in a painting by Bosch.”
Watch “Dead at 25” below:
Gioele Valenti is one half of the acclaimed Occult Psych project Lay Llamas (Rocket Recordings) and the man behind Herself, a folktronica project that involved the likes of Jonathan Donahue (Mercury Rev), John Fallon (The Steppes), and Amaury Cambuzat (Faust, Ulan Bator). He was also the guitarist of Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation. Chiefly, he gave rise to the genre-defying project JuJu.
From the debut album Sunrise Ocean Bender, where African influences held sway, to Our Mother Was A Plant, Maps And Territory, where the blending of shoegaze and psychedelic elements evolved into a post-punk fusion reminiscent of Joy Division, with an increasingly pronounced noise trend, JUJU has now achieved a more mature formal balance, characterised by a pure and distinct identity.
With APOCALYPSE IS GOD’S SPOILER, JuJu once again redefines the game. This album signifies an evolution from their established sound and also marks a return to their roots and a more pronounced embrace of “western” imagery. embracing that blend of Post Punk, Shoegaze, Darkwave, Industrial, and Synthpop, and then anchors it to the Tribal and Occult Psych elements of JuJu’s origins.
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