Death pop duo, VOWWS, return with new single, One by One, and a brilliant accompanying video, shot on 35mm film and directed by frequent collaborator Jordan Hemingway (Wolf Alice, Comme des Garçons), and edited by the band's own, Rizz.
With the world beginning its third year of utter devastation and turmoil, the industrial-tinged One By One is a fantastic, rugged dark pop cut which strikes like a frenzied and neurotic descent in a kind of euphoric self-destruction. The song comes with B-side, Shadow Man, a representation of a very similar mental state.
VOWWS' Matt comments on the new release: “One by One is about the lies we tell ourselves to make sense of our lives. If we start believing them too much, eventually they can take us over. By thinking we can have everything we want all the time, anytime, forever, and be righteous while doing it - these appetites will eventually consume us and define us, leaving us with nothing real. Shadow Man is the aftermath…it’s no less confused but it’s looking around wondering what went wrong.”
On the video Rizz expands: “We’ve been working with Jordan for years on various projects, sometimes in the same city but more often remotely, so it was great to find some time together. We’re both fans of films that capture the desert in a dark, mystical, lawless style - films like Natural Born killers, From Dusk till Dawn, that cowboy scene from Mullholland Drive…
“It was the most insane shoot we’ve ever done, we drove out the middle of nowhere with no crew and shot for 24 hours straight. We were hauling 35mm cameras across sketchy landscape covered in broken glass and like, your feet would suddenly sink into some creature hole.
“We had extremely limited resources and everything that could go wrong went wrong, but everyone’s commitment to making it work was inspiring. As long as you have a vision & your heart’s in the right place, you don’t need food or water after all.”
The new single comes as a harbinger of the band's third full length, expected later in 2022. It was scheduled to coincide with a 21-date North American tour with French experimental metal outfit Igorrr and Japanese noise rock stalwarts Melt Banana, but the dates have been pushed back until the autumn because of visa complications with Igorrr.
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