“Everything is under control” becomes a particularly unconvincing reassurance when the officials delivering it are wearing gas masks. Screens repeat the message, documents disappear into a shredder, and a reactor heads toward catastrophe. In Nightcrawler and Carmilla Sioux’s video for System Lies, public relations remains a functioning department well into the apocalypse. The authorities have plenty to say, provided nobody expects any of it to be true.
The Spanish electronic producer joins forces with the Barcelona-based DJ and producer for the second single from his forthcoming album, Uranium 235. Combining industrial EBM with dark electro, System Lies examines how institutions manipulate information and conceal the truth from the citizens whose lives depend upon it.
Deep, ominous bass synths open a channel for thick industrial drums, piston pulses, with cold electronic textures hanging above the rhythm. Humming, buzzing, and murmured voices crowd the mix, suggesting messages picked up through a wall or a damaged receiver. When the beat breaks, electronic shudders take over, and a ringing tone begins to resemble an exhausted alarm. Its blurred edges leave open the possibility of a voice buried inside the machinery.
Muffled male communiques drift across the track, their words too obscured to make out. That effect suits the subject: communication continues while meaning remains frustratingly inaccessible. As the drums return, the wailing tone persists above them. Later, mechanical noises and repeating EBM-techno sequences tighten the arrangement, spiraling toward the finish with the sensation of a machine accelerating beyond its operators’ control.
Created by Nightcrawler, the clip gives those uneasy transmissions an Orwellian setting of military formations, decaying apartment blocks, and official insignia stamped across public life. Protesters ask for the truth while the state broadcasts reassurance; a control-room monitor supplies the more useful bulletin: “REACTOR 4 — CRITICAL FAILURE.” Hospital corridors, rows of body bags, and the ruined power station expose the cost of that deception. Its sickly yellow-green palette makes the whole place seem contaminated before the warning symbols appear, while burning state vehicles and “SYSTEM LIES” graffiti give the population’s anger a blunt vocabulary.
Watch the video for System Lies below:
Nightcrawler began making music in 2011, drawing on horror and science-fiction scores. Albums including Metropolis, Beware of the Humans, and Visionary established that cinematic foundation, while the later EPs Perverse Frequencies and Dynamics of a Crash pursued further electronic experiments. His collaborators have included Antoni Maiovvi, Makeup & Vanity Set, and S Y Z Y G Y X, with live appearances at festivals including Primavera Sound and Eufònic.
Carmilla Sioux brings a background in post-punk bass playing to her work across EBM, electro, new beat, Italo, acid, and techno. Her DJ appearances include Urban Spree in Berlin, KHIDI in Tbilisi, and Barcelona’s Moog, alongside Grauzone festival. In 2024, she founded From Hell To Disco, a label and event platform encompassing releases, podcasts, and curated events. She also partners with Jessica Bellomo in Villanelle, exploring dark synth, new wave, and electronic music rooted in the 1980s.
System Lies was produced, mixed, and mastered by Nightcrawler at NC Sound Studio, with cover design by George Gold Design. The single is out now through Nightcrawler Music.
Listen to System Lies below and order the single here.
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