Berlin-based synthpunk trio, Mexican Radio, are about to release their sophomore full length, Destruction/Reconstruction, coming out September 20th 2019 via R.I.P. Ben Lee Records.
Having gained a lot of experience through their previous bands, Nathaniel Fregoso (vocals, synth, effects) and Dyan Valdes (vocals, synth), relocated from California to Germany and joined forces with Hannes Neupert (vocals, drums), forming Der Sturz, a German language Fall cover band, and a forewarning for the arrival of Mexican Radio whose self-titled debut came out in 2018.
Night Of The Nihilist is the opening track to the trio's upcoming record, and like much of Nathaniel Fregoso's lyrical work, it draws inspiration from historical events as well as literature. A mixture of both deadpan and more animated vocals comes paralleled to the song's philosophy and concept, and akin to the previously aforementioned, The Fall, while the striking production owes a lot to Mexican Radio's idealistic process of recording everything live on tape, in an analogue studio with no overdubs.
The band explain: "The song was inspired by the Russian nihilist movement from the 1860s and makes reference to their assassination of Tsar Alexander II. The narrator of the song also takes influence from the nihilist character Bazarov from Ivan Turgenev’s novel Fathers and Sons. The song is about rejecting everything, wreaking righteous havoc and still managing to have a good time in the process. There’s also a conspiratorial vibe to the song, it’s almost like a manifesto written behind closed doors by people who are eager to unleash their “holy hate” on the world outside as soon as the sun comes up - once they’ve finished dancing the night away. Most of us can’t relate to throwing a bomb at an emperor’s carriage, but I think we can all understand that feeling of desperation when you're backed into a corner and the only way out of a situation is to destroy everything around you."
It's sharp and meaningful, off-center lo-fi synthpunk at its best, stirringly delivered and downright absorbing. With an edgy sound which comes through like an equal match to the astute lyrics that come with it, Night Of The Nihilist streams for the first time ever right below.
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