There is something very distinctive in the air. New Zealand’s Flying Nun signees Sulfate have followed up their debut single ‘Crossing’ (reviewed by me here) with a brilliant brooding, fuzzy ‘There You Are!’: coasting over an insistent bass, barely contained feedback and singer Peter Ruddell’s (Wax Chattels) voice a deep, sonorous ominous rumble. There is a vaguely threatening air and a mesmerising, transfixing urgency that creates a enigmatic thrum. The song is like a panther prowling before the kill.
Ruddell says of the track:
The finished recording captured that feeling of being jostled about by strangers in a dark room, while simultaneously being blinded by the flashing lights of a stage. You’re a bit scared, but it’s a good kind of scared.
Sulfate indeed have an ability to create a satisfying aural tension: building up a uneasy and unsettling hypnotic vibe that circulates inside your head. It’s ultimately very cathartic and thrilling music:
Sulfate have been signed to the venerable Flying Nun Records and ‘There You Are’ will be on the band’s forthcoming album ‘Godzone’ to be released on 10 September 2021. You can stream/download the single here and pre-order the album (and access the single) through the link below:
The trio have also today announced their Godzone Album Release Tour, making their way around “God’s Own Country” – that’s Aotearoa or New Zealand for the rest of us mortals – in the second half of September. Details below and tickets available here.
Feature Photograph: Courtney Rodgers
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