Monochromatic and drab coldwave artist Benny Leather has emerged from his tenure in electropunk new wave act Digital Leather to release the new LP Temporary Insanity on FDH records. An apt record title that couldn’t be more appropriate for the times, brought forth from a creative individual who seemingly thrives on the tension of not feeling comfortable in their own skin, or is their skin real? A question often asked in the prescient cyber-punk narratives of the early 80s found in the works of Philip K Dick and William Gibson.
Channeling his inspirations from classic synths acts such as Absolute Body Control, Oppenheimer Analysis, Benny Leather tunes in from the dead static of a Cathode Ray Monitor into a minimal pulsing that throbs along to the flashes of SMPTE color bars, whose purpose is slowly becoming lost in time as the decades pass, and new personal devices such as smartphones reign.
Benny Leather explains:
“Vanity Channel explores the duality of isolation in the modern world. Even in solitude, there is still some sort of interaction with somebody or something. The pre-deterministic nature of television begs the disturbing semantic and ontological questions of what it means to be alone and what the nature of feelings associated with it actually are. It is hard to determine where you end and a television, or any other media device begins.”
Watch the video for “Vanity Channel” below:
Using minimal synth compositions as a medium a self-reflective examination of their worldview, Benny Leather is creating music as a means of connection to those who might not be necessarily similar, but modestly compatible and empathetic to the thoughts and emotions expressed.
After abandoning academia with a developing curiosity for analog synthesizers, Benny ended up performing with the project Digital Leather in various incarnations for many years. Learning directly under Shawn Foree (Digital Leather) and Todd Fink of The Faint, they eventually gave Benny an analog synthesizer and Temporary Insanity shows the results. Results FDH Records, the Philadelphia based label that put out music by Destruction Unit, multiple Jay Reatard synth projects, and many other synth-heavy post-punk records.
The Philip K Dick reality we’re living in is the inspiration Benny Leather has needed to finally materialize their retrofuturistic and hauntological aesthetic. Obsession with philosophy, mathematics, and economic analysis compliments Benny’s ss fascination with electronic instruments and circuit design. Paranoia about artificial intelligence and concern for the ethical obligations that come with this kind of intelligent design fuels artistic insomnia. This insomnia serves as the bedrock for the creative effort that is hell-bent on presenting an aesthetically pleasing interpretation of a world experiencing complete system failure.
Benny Leather’s Temporary Insanity is out November 1st for FDH Records.
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