Following the announcement of their second album, Albeit Living, to be released on July 14 via felte, LA-based trio Sextile have shared a new video for ‘One of These’. The clip features camera work & projections by Cloaking and brings together the band’s infamous visceral live show with imagery capturing the vast industrial sound that underpins this striking new record. ‘One of These’, a tirade on the feelings frontman Brady Keehn experienced during his personal struggle with addiction and escapism, is empowered by these suitably impassioned & urgent visuals.
As a stable fixture in the Los Angeles underground over recent years, Sextile have been gaining a devout following since their inception in 2015. The band boldly throw convention out of the window to create and genre-bending imprint that combines the raw energy of ‘70s punk with the intricate and sophisticated structural elements of ‘80s post-punk and synth-wave.
Sextile’s first release, A Thousand Hands, marked a signature sound - a dark and primitive form of angry rock ‘n’ roll, blending surf-punk, early industrial, and post-punk against a backdrop of violent energy. The album caught steam with each flailing, chaotic, electrifying performance, including a standout run with The Soft Moon. Brady Keehn’s intense vocals and piercing guitar sounds bounce effortlessly off Eddie Wuebben’s hypnotic synth-lines and Melissa Scaduto’s commanding stand-up drumming style.
After hunkering down in a basement in Echo Park to record for a couple of weeks, Sextile is back with their second LP, Albeit Living. The album title, inspired by a Circle X song, means in-spite of living and sets the tone for a politically charged, introspective album of impassioned observations on our world today. Musically, Albeit Living is a testament to the band’s growth in the songwriting department and effort spent fine-tuning their burgeoning compositional skills: the synth is in the forefront on this album, allowing it to shine through more powerfully than we saw on A Thousand Hands. Despite its more sophisticated sound, the album manages to match and even intensify the seductive energy of their live shows and debut album.
The ten-song LP is a strong statement as a follow-up to their primitive debut. The album launches abruptly, pulling you almost instantaneously into its orbit of hard-hitting techno beats, juddering synths, and zooming feedback, hinting at influences including The Jesus & Mary Chain, the frostbitten analogues of Cabaret Voltaire, the myth of Public Image Ltd., and the taunting soundscapes of bands like D.A.F. and Section 25.
Albeit Living tracklist:
1. One of These (Youtube | Soundcloud)
2. Who Killed Sex
3. Ripped
4. Floored
5. Mental
6. Sterilized
7. Das Cat
8. Situations
9. Crisis
10. AVC