It's hard to believe that a single unit could contain the genius of Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Rob Sheridan and mix it with the glitzy made-for-pop range of Mariqueen Maandig, Reznor's wife.
While Reznor always dabbled with the obscure and surreal, ever since Year Zero he's spent more time with focusing those energies in emotive minimalism instead of angst-ridden trip hop (although elements of both remain consistent in his style). This has culminated in Reznor and Ross collaborating on multiple, gorgeous ambient projects, two of which were film scores, one of which won them a Grammy, and eventually resulted in the formation of How To Destroy Angels, their current project.
They released their first, self-titled EP back in 2010, and it showed a lot of potential, but was lacking a certain punch that was present in Reznor and Ross' other work. It was apparent a large focus of the band was on the drums. By comparison to how Florence + the Machine use heavy live drums that have the strength of an army march, How To Destroy Angels focus their electronic programming to have both a dance and funk vibe.
They released their second EP, 'an omen,' in November of last year, and came out with 'Ice Age,' a track that will also appear on their debut album. The track features string plucking that sounds like it could be straight off Nine Inch Nails, 'The Fragile,' and yet, the track feels entirely modern and new. A 7-minute minimalist epic, the track features some of Angels best and most poignant lyrics to date.
Now, the band is set to drop their first album, 'Welcome Oblivion,' in March of this year, and they've just released their next video for a track titled, 'How Long,' which seems to find their unique minimalism and poppy undertones coalescing into something that's a mix of new and old, and yet remains entirely catchy and sing-a-long-able.
If you've been a fan of any of Reznor and Ross' work, I strongly suggest you guys check these out. Welcome Oblivion is set to release March 5, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment