In recent months we’ve been sharing singles from URUBURU, the album which heralds the rise of HLLLYH from the ashes of 00s favourites The Mae Shi. What the band describe as “an end-of-the-world story written on a mobius strip,” the record sees them dive headlong into the colourful sound, frantic energy and thematic depth that made their former project so beloved. Lead single ‘Dead Clade‘ kicked things off, what we called “an apocalyptic anthem dedicated to a variety of ending worlds which has nevertheless decided it wants to live,” while the title track “offer[ed] a timely reminder that energy persists irrespective of everything.” Songs so committed to their own irrepressible motion they come to seem subversive. An antidote to the powerlessness and stasis so many feel within our present political moment.
Latest single ‘Flex It, Tagger’ takes this idea head on. A song which traces back to 2009, before the Mae Shi broke up, but which feels more relevant than ever. It not only rails against the pernicious rise of surveillance and the militarisation of the police, but suggests a potential mode of resistance in the too often forgotten power of the crowd. “At one level, this song is inspired by the Sparks-fueled crowds at their shows in the late 2000s, particularly at LA venues like the Smell and Pehrspace and the early FYF Fests,” the band explain. “Crowds so powerful and energetic that they could have overthrown the government. Relatedly, the song is also about overthrowing the government: Every rebellion looks foolhardy until it’s successful; this one looks very foolhardy.”
It all began
out on the balcony
an errant ember in the raw
call it disaster
or opportunity
we didn’t start it but we’re ending it right nowbreathing’s hardly feeling
we need a reason, but not a plan
foolish, we shouldn’t do this
Ask and you’ll hear we’re well aware of what we’re going through
URUBURU is out on the 27th June via Team Shi and you can pre-order it from the HLLLYH Bandcamp page.
