LA-based Australian Death-pop duo VOWWS are back! Following up on 2018’s Under the World LP, and in the aftermath of a partially completed world tour with Poppy, Matt and Rizz, have unveiled the prickly and foreboding “Impulse Control”—a dark cinematic foray into an apocalyptic delirium and sonic psychosis.
The brilliant track’s accompanying music video was shot, directed, and edited by the band, and was filmed partially in LA’s Little Tokyo just prior to quarantine. The result captures the inhalation of dread before the veil of our current dystopian climate fell, with its accompanying mix of “paranoia, mania, absurdity. and occasional gallows humor”.
On how they are coping during this crisis, Vowws explains:
“It’s a unique time for humanity, the machine has stopped and we’re all in solitary having to deal with ourselves. There’s a lot of anxiety that we can’t really run from. Like everyone else, we’re processing a huge shock and experiencing things we’ve never dealt with before.
We’re grateful to have an outlet for some of the angst, it feels like the best way we can work through something this intense is to capture the feeling and represent it somehow. A lot of the song came out of nowhere, straight from the void probably.”
Watch the video for “Impulse Control” below:
On this latest track, Matt and Riz set themselves to a novel approach to both writing and production, enlisting producer Kevin S. McMahon in his upstate New York studio, to work with the band while recording in a 200-year-old barn and feed every instrumental part through a wild array of vintage & repurposed gear.
Vowws have always taken an experimental approach to their art, which has won the pair interest from some distinguished names in music, including Gary Numan (who performed guest vocals on The Great Sun) Thor Harris (Swans), and Deftones frontman Chino Moreno.
The fashion world has also taken notice of VOWWS’ strong aesthetic sensibilities. In January 2019, the band were invited to perform during the Commes Des Garçons runway show for Paris Men’s Fashion Week. The relationship with Commes and its retail partner, Dover Street Market, flourished as they were invited for in-store performances in Tokyo and London, as well as designing an exclusive merchandise line for the brand.
“Impulse Control” is out now.
