The Wall Street Journal premièred the lead single, ‘Amerika’, last week, a track which frontman Paul Murphy says was inspired by Walt Whitman. His poem ‘America’ is a hopeful 1888 view of the nation (“Centre of equal daughters, equal sons / All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old”), something Murphy tries to channel in the lyrics, although the Amerika-with-a-K spelling also brings to mind Kafka and his abstruse, crushing systems. The result is something decidedly of the now, a track about being an individual in the arrangement, torn between romanticism and cynicism, hope and dread. About finding shelter and not giving in. Check it out below:

The Great Detachment will be released on the 4th of March. You can pre-order it now via Dine Alone Records.

Photo by Norman Wong

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Matheny’s style is as distinctive as ever, his hyperactive methods of delivery perfect for lyrics that attempt to capture the information buzz of contemporary culture. What better way to represent the world today than words in short, sharp statements, bursts of information that are gone before they sink in, replaced by something equally transient? Apologies for the lengthy quote here but the first track ‘Fierce Resource Allocation’ is a perfect example of what I mean:

“Pushing out to pass the parking lots,
loaded down with crates of surplus fuel cells,
we drained the pennies from our purchase cards,
our credit cards,
our debit cards,
our cash,
EY!

We spent our money,
but we kept your trust.
The universal individual attraction,
the biological delirious value:
we don’t weigh the same.

We die young.
We die fearless.
We die with resources.
We die with integrity.
We die young
and stunned
to die with integrity,
to die young,
to die fearless,
to die with resources,
to die with integrity.
to die young,
to die fearless,
to die with resources,
to die with integrity.
(DIE DIE DIE DIE
DIE DIE DIE DIE
DIE DIE DIE DIE
DIE DIE DIE DIE
DIE DIE DIE DIE
DIE DIE DIE DIE
DIE DIE DIE DIE
DIE DIE DIE DIE!)
O!
Resources.
Resources.”

This sort of thing is repeated across the album, with songs such as ‘Caricom’ and ‘Ring 3A/B’ consisting of hurried lyrics (in >1 language) and frenzied yelps. ‘Ring 2A’ (‘Ring 2A: Proving the Politburo Right’ to give the full title) sounds like three political speeches occuring simultaneously in a nightclub. ‘Ring 3D’ is especially weird, with the unsettling repetition of ”Franz Kafka goes to Primark, Franz Kafka shops at Primark,“ complete with super-commercial vocals, that always-smiling-an-empty-smile sort of voice. 

The whole thing is swamped in political, historical and literary references, and the album can be overwhelming if you try to go too deep into it too quickly. Don’t let that stop you from trying.

You can buy The Orlando Sentinel now over at Bandcamp, either as a digital download or on vinyl.

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