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GIRLS IN SYNTHESIS

Girls In Synthesis

Sublimation

    After two critically acclaimed albums (2020’s ‘Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future’ and 2022’s ‘The Rest Is Distraction’), and numerous mini-album, EP and single releases, London-based trio Girls In Synthesis return with their new statement; their third album ‘Sublimation’.

    If you thought you knew GIS, think again… they have moved on and created a dark and intense, yet melodic, collection of songs; their take on an angular pop record. Opening song ‘Lights Out’ is split into two distinct sections; the opening a Barrett-esque vocal and guitar lament to sleep deprived anxiety which morphs, via a ‘Faust Tapes’ influenced freeform noise section, into a stomping, high intensity closing blitz.

    Tracks such as ‘Deceit’, ‘We Are Here’ and ‘Picking Things Out Of The Air’ see the group at their most melodic to date, minimising some of the chaotic noise elements of their signature sound and bringing to the fore impassioned, soaring vocals and keys melodies. Their trademark, driving drums and bass foundation is particularly evident on songs ‘I Judge Myself’ and ‘Corrupting Memories’, but is counterbalanced by intense, early goth influenced keyboard lines, bringing influences from late 1970s/early 1980s into focus with the contemporary GIS intensity. Slow-burning tracks ‘I Was Never There’ and ‘The Prefix’ build up tension and atmosphere with sparse arrangements and circular, spiralling outros, while closer ‘A Damning Lesson’ sees the band return to their intense, bludgeoning wall of sound only to send it into a blur of echoing drum machine, reminiscent of the early work of Cabaret Voltaire.

    Lyrically, GIS prove themselves head and shoulders above their contemporaries, leaving the pastiche sloganeering and lecturing to those wishing to preach to the converted, and reach inside to bring forth poetic and challenging analysis of the anxiety and emotional turmoil of self-reflection and human relationships. Booked in for extensive UK/EU touring throughout May and June, the band will be adapting their white-heat live show to bring subtlety and clarity to the new songs from ‘Sublimation’, losing none of their unique and intense performance in the process. Be ready…

    TRACK LISTING

    Lights Out
    Deceit
    Semblance Of Choice
    We Are Here
    Corrupting Memories
    I Was Never There
    Picking Things Out Of The Air
    I Judge Myself
    Subtle Differences
    The Prefix
    A Damning Lesson

    Girls In Synthesis

    The Rest Is Distraction

      Experimental post-punk outfit Girls In Synthesis release the eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2020’s incendiary debut, ‘Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future’. Entitled ‘The Rest Is Distraction’, its mix of fractured guitar, crushing drums and bass, intense vocals and lyrical content - create as challenging a record as you will hear this year.

      Formed in 2016, Girls In Synthesis are John Linger (bass / vocals), Jim Cubitt (guitar / keys) and Nicole Pinto (drums). The trio’s double a-sided debut single ‘The Mound’/’Disappear’ came out in the early part of 2017, and since then they have established themselves as the most forward thinking, viscerally challenging band around with unmissable live shows that continue to excite and astound in equal measure.

      Recorded last year amidst the uncertainty of continuous lockdowns as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, ‘The Rest Is Distraction’ is far darker in content than its predecessor. Mainly exploring internal and mental struggles as opposed to external current affairs, it focuses on the claustrophobia of emotional anguish and continues to bravely delve into previously un-ventured topics. Featuring frequent collaborators funkcutter and Stanley Bad on horns and violin, respectively, two songs also see Eleni Poulou, ex-The Fall, on keyboards. The album was mixed by long-term collaborator Max Walker, and features stunning landscape photography by Bea Dewhurst. The album was mastered in France by Ayumu Matsuo.

      Sonically atramentous and less one dimensional than the band’s debut, ‘The Rest Is Distraction’ takes its cues from ‘Join Hands’ era Siouxsie & The Banshees, Brainiac and Crass’ ‘Christ The Album’, among others. From the first crackle of electricity on the opening track, to the heart wrenching taped voice-recording on the final outro, this LP triumphantly retains every ounce of intensity and vitality that makes Girls In Synthesis the most captivating band to emerge from the UK DIY underground in recent years. Listeners will find ‘The Rest Is Distraction’ a challenging, yet ultimately cathartic listen. Prepare yourselves for a sonic cleansing, Girls In Synthesis style.

      TRACK LISTING

      Side A
      1. It’s All Beginning To Change
      2. Watch With Mother
      3. Total Control
      4. Swallowed Pill
      5. Screaming
      6. My Husband
      Side B
      1. Cottage Industry
      2. Not As I Do
      3. Lacking Bite
      4. Your Prayers Have Changed
      5. To A Fault

      Girls In Synthesis

      Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future

        Following a steady stream of ultra-limited 7” singles, that were collated together in 2019 for the ‘Pre/Post: A Collection 2016-2018’ on Louder Than War, the bands highly-anticipated debut album, by those that know, arrives with the first bitter taste of new single ‘Pressure’; one-minute-and-fifty-four seconds of screeching feedback, tribal drums and unbridled rage that is exactly the shot in the arm and the boot up the arse this nation, if not the world, needs right now. “In both music and lyrical content this song sets out to capture the unrelenting pressures of living in the modern world,” explains vocalist and guitarist Jim. “The pressures and expectations of which 'they' force upon you - with the apparent realisation that you will never be what they want you to be.

        "Pressure, the twist of the gut, as one door opens another fucking shuts" Since forming in late 2016, Girls In Synthesis have quickly forged a fearsome reputation as one of the most exciting and volatile live acts in London. In equal parts frantic, considered, ear-splitting and melodic, the group take their cues from the early DIY punk and post-punk pioneers to keep everything in-house; artwork, videos, performances and recordings are created entirely by the group and their handful of trusted collaborators, under a bedrock of heavy, bludgeoning, dark, post-punk. ‘Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future’ is their first release for fabled experimental punk label Harbinger Sound and finds the band advancing their sound, making subtle but experimental shifts in texture and tone, helping to break free from the shackled straight-jacket of punk rock that, to be fair, never really held them down in the first place.

        Across the album’s ten songs, Girls In Synthesis explore a wide range of sensations and sounds as the album detonates into life with opening track ‘Arterial Movements’ in a screeching flurry of over-driven guitar and hammering drums. The contrast between the slow, mesmerising look into aging and dying in ‘Human Frailty’ (‘The realisation that you cannot halt their impending death’), to the aggressive attack on the rise of the right-wing in ‘They’re Not Listening’ (‘The time-old tradition of the right wing accosting desperate working class people has returned’) shows a wide range of subjects and reactions aggressively tackled. Mental health in a fast-moving, unforgiving world, media control, the divide widening between the have and the have nots, the class divide, the blaming of the poor, NHAEFYF bristles with an unforgiving frustration and temper. The recording of NHAEFYF started at Rockit Studio, Hull in April 2019 during days off on the UK tour to promote the ‘Pre/Post’ compilation album. The Hull sessions were engineered by studio owner and local musician Sean Tomlinson. The remainder of the album was recorded and engineered by the band throughout summer 2019 in a large rehearsal room at Gun Factory studios, Homerton. Production and finishing touches were completed at GIS bassist John’s S.I.C.K Studio in Hither Green. The album was mixed by long-time band collaborator and engineer, Max Walker (currently studying at Abbey Road).

        The album was mastered by Brett Shaw at 123 Studios, Peckham. In their few years of existence, fans and critics alike have been stunned by the bands pure visceral and punishing wall of sound, as well as applauding the groups way of making a GIS show an all-inclusive experience; playing from within the crowd to create a unique and awe-inspiring spectacle. Being hand-picked to support acts as diverse as Damo Suzuki, Slaves, Bad Breeding, Warmduscher and Wolf Alice has seen a widening of the groups fan base. Sold out headline shows across the UK have led to frantic and chaotic performances, and packed, sweaty venues, the word is getting out and spreading rapidly. Catch GIS while you can and witness the rise of one of the UK’s most original and unique underground bands.

        TRACK LISTING

        1/Arterial Movements
        2/Pressure
        3/The Images Agree
        4/Scrapped
        5/Human Frailty
        6/They’re Not Listening
        7/Cause For Concern
        8/Coming Up For Air
        9/Set Up To Fail
        10/Tirades Of Hate And Fear


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