Revolution Above Disorder is the work of Dubliner Stephen Nicholas White (The Orange Kyte, House of Dolls, The Subterranean Satellite Band, Magic Shoppe), who is currently based in Vancouver. His new single ‘Annihilator’ is a febrile, organic slab of brooding, atmospheric goth pop which prowls in the half light with a delicious intensity.
The waves of cold vibrant synths unfold underneath White’s disconnected and louche vocals: studied and enigmatic, haunting and ominous with chilling lyrics that have a post-apocalyptical foreboding:
The needle in the haystack
I couldn’t find the words to say
Just looking for some action
Is meaningless
Meaningless
White says of the track:
‘Annihilator’ was originally conceived of as an uptempo post-punk song a number of years back when writing the second House of Dolls record, which ultimately never saw the light of day. Rediscovered in a treasure trove of demos back in 2020 as I was conceptualizing Revolution Above Disorder, Annihilator soon metamorphosed into a whole different beast. Working again with Jason Corbett at Jacknife Sound, we slowed the track down to allow it to breathe and, in doing so, a whole new incarnation of the track began to crystallize.
At the time I was heavily into rediscovering the sounds of first wave trip-hop and nineties UK big beat… and as ever, the ubiquitous spectre of krautrock loomed heavily at the forefront of my mind. These influences wormed their way into Annihilator as we focused on the building of subtle layers to create a rising tension over the course of the track. The song was built over top of a sci-fi synth bassline, underpinned at its core by acoustic guitar. ACTORS’ drummer Adam Fink responded to the call and nailed the drum track. Mat Durie was summoned in to add some bowed-guitar, lending the track the droned-out atmospherics that it was crying out for.
The result has a heady dynamism under its relentless gothic groove. The track previews a 3-track EP (out May 26) produced and mixed at Vancouver’s Jacknife Sound by Jason Corbett of post-punk buzzband Actors, mastered by Ride legend Mark Gardener at his OX4 Sound Studio.
You can listen to the single and preorder the EP below:
Feature Photograph: Analissa Longoria
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