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 ‘Illuminate’ is a delicious slice of dark, foreboding shoegaze with a Jesus and Mary Chain sneery disdain and a My Bloody Valentine chainsaw buzz. Deeply formed melodies flow under the insistant rhythmic thunder with a disassociated air and opaque lyrics:
Illuminate, soldier of fortune
Softer than sin, deeper than earth
White says of the track and the formation of Revolution Above Disorder:
‘Illuminate’ is the song that kick started Revolution Above Disorder. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I’d just come off a European tour with Magic Shoppe and I found myself having to cancel scheduled plans with The Orange Kyte. In my downtime I began to reevaluate where I was headed musically and I realized I’d become dissatisfied with what I’d been doing. As I searched through old demos from the past, some going back over a decade, I was excited to hear songs with real potential that either I’d abandoned or just plain forgotten about. I grew interested in the idea of this modern day version of myself collaborating with my chaotic and directionless former self. I wanted to finish what I’d started many years prior. ‘‘Illuminate’ was the first one I needed to record.
This was originally conceived in 2013, albeit with different lyrics. I changed the lyrics from a song of misery and self-pity to an optimistic song of enlightenment and transcendence. It’s a song about getting your shit together and overcoming your own bullshit. A call to arms of sorts as a reminder to dig deep when distraction and resistance come knocking. The first line is ‘Revolution above disorder, divinity over all else…’, it seemed appropriate to use Revolution Above Disorder as the name for the entire project after that.
The accompanying video, directed and edited by Eliot Galán of Galán Films is as cool and enigmatic as the song – late night and rural isolation coloured in deep velvet reds and blues:
‘Illuminate is available through the link below:
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