Today, longtime Athens experimental noise punk duo Kwazymoto emerges from the shadows to share the music video for its single “ix” ahead of the upcoming album kwazymoto is dead. The full album release on Sept. 12 will be the duo’s first project in over four years.
“This whole album is kind of a giant mess. It was made over the course of three years, on and off, in different locations with different approaches. Which is so different to how Kwazymoto used to operate,” says Ian Hemerlein. “What I liked about [‘ix’] as a first sampling is that it shows both some of the new and some of the old approaches of the band. For example, Kody [Blackmon]’s drums are chopped up and looped to create the basis of the song, but they are still his real drums.”
The music video is an in-your-face explosion of sound and images that feels like as good of a place as any to pick right back up with Kwazymoto or introduce yourself for the first time. This video does contain flashing lights, so viewer discretion is advised.
“I love the way that David Lynch uses reds, blues, flashing lights and sound design to create so much feeling throughout his work—whether intentional or not, that is probably the influence I see the most in it now,” says Hemerlein.
While you wait for the Sept. 12 album release, you can catch up on Kwazymoto’s past releases at kwazymoto.bandcamp.com. Hemerlein says plans for the duo’s future are uncertain, and he had considered not releasing kwazymoto is dead until his wife convinced him otherwise. So it’s best to appreciate what’s in front of us in the moment than question what’s next.
“More than anything I’ve ever worked on, I definitely made this one for me. That being said, if anyone listens to it and gets something out of it, then that makes it worth putting out there,” says Hemerlein.
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