When three of the most forward-thinking minds in electronic and alternative music collide, the result is bound to be expansive. Demise Of Love is the thrilling new project from Daniel Avery, James Greenwood’s Ghost Culture, and Working Men’s Club—a studio collaboration forged from mutual admiration and an unrelenting drive to break new ground. Today they share their debut single ‘Strange Little Consequence’ alongside the news of their eponymous debut EP, which will land digitally and physically on 10” limited edition vinyl on May 30, via Domino. Demise Of Love parties will also take place in London, Manchester and Paris – full details below.
Born from a shared desire to create something raw, boundary-pushing and deeply emotive, the trio entered the studio with no expectations, only a love for each other’s work and a fearless approach to sound. The result is a heady fusion of industrial dreamscapes, acid house intensity, and starkly beautiful melodies. Shaped by the combined creative forces of the trio’s masterful production and brooding presence, Demise Of Love carves out its own uncompromising space in electronic music.
According to Avery, Demise of Love entered the studio “armed only with a love for each other’s work”. The first fruits of this radically open-minded new collaboration can be heard on today’s track ‘Strange Little Consequence’. The accompanying video feels chaotic, but also arresting and meaningful as director Jak Payne explains: “We wanted to create something really visually driven for this. A visual that gestures towards the breakdown of a relationship, through the clutter and detritus that is left behind.”
The four-track EP, mixed by Alan Moulder, has traces of the sounds that have made all three artists so loved, from sky-scraping synths to ultra-catchy choruses, all rendered with shuddering intensity. Yet the record’s four tracks don’t really sound like the music of any of its three individual creators – or indeed like anything else out there. ‘Strange Little Consequence’ moves elegantly from a vicious acidic shuffle to a huge rock chorus and back again, the transition both entirely unexpected and utterly irresistible. Elsewhere, ‘Carry The Blame’ sees the elegant sky lines of Detroit techno brought to life by Working Men’s Club’s Syd Minsky Sargeant’s unmistakable vocal. ‘Be A Man’ is industrial punk with a helping of melancholic euphoria, and ‘Like I Loved You’ closes the EP with vocals from Greenwood in pure-pop exhilaration that rockets off into electronic space; an instant hit.
The record’s lyrics, too, share themes that cross over with the group’s production style: dissonant, off kilter and heavy. Consider “Dead peasants excite you / Rewards of the plight fall / Into your hands / Your equivocal hands” from ‘Strange Little Consequence’; or “Your ways are antiquated / And I’m bored now / I’ve given up on trying / To work out how / To reconnect the fractures / That you created” from ‘Be A Man’. These are lyrics that speak of modern unease and a desperate search for connection.
Avery calls the trio’s debut EP, “Three distinct sonic personalities coming together to create something new entirely, a search for a burning light that could only exist between the trio.” And he’s right: “Demise of Love” is new; but it is also full of life and feeling, where innovation is employed for the sake of emotion, rather than as an end in itself.
Fans of all three artists will find plenty to love in this EP. But it is the chemistry between Avery, Greenwood and Minsky Sargeant that counts, creating music that is bold yet classy, timeless and quietly beautiful.
Demise Of Love launch parties will take place in Manchester, Paris and London as follows:
Sun March 30th – Manchester @ YES
Fri April 11th – Paris @ Silencio
Thurs May 29th – London @ The Glove That Fits
