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Forward-thinking experimental-electronic outfit Geniuser launch PledgeMusic campaign and unveil ‘Epiphany’, the first single from their upcoming new album, ‘I Am’, out on 22nd June via OhAh Records/Believe Digital.
The London via Copenhagen two-piece, comprised of singer and bass player Michael Allen, formerly of 4AD’s underrated dark-punk-funk band The Wolfgang Press, and painter and producer Giuseppe De Bellis, met and began recording their first album ‘Mud Black’at The Orb’s studio. Released on a small Danish label, it was never promoted, a second DIY EP ‘Press/Delete’ was released as a 123-limited edition numbered vinyl copies in 2009.
Through the pre-order campaign, fans will be given exclusive updates along the way, they’ll have access to premium features including a variety of signed album formats featuring extra tracks and the compelling artwork and packaging created by longstanding 4AD collaborator designer Chris Brigg, which adds a distinctive visual identity to the release. Fans will be able to pre-order the album as a deluxe CD with 16-page full-colour booklet, full-colour gatefold vinyl, signed vinyl test pressings, exclusive T-shirts, handwritten lyric book by Michael Allen, signed live DVD of the band’s exclusive show in Odessa, and much more.
Listen to Epiphany here: https://open.spotify.com/track/2Fxy4bInE6YjU4VZB2Xt78
While Geniuser’s previous music often existed in the margins, both commercially and artistically, with ‘I Am’, the two artists get closer to their ultimate goal, “We want to make music that is challenging, honest, and attacks the senses,” Allen states. The album, driven by an urge to reflect – and respond to – what Allen describes as “the state of tension prevalent in Britain and Europe”, embodies the extreme disaffection and severance pervading our society.
With only few noises, beats and ideas discussed over the phone, Allen and De Bellis met in Berlin to focus on the writing and production side of the album, before recordings started at andereBaustelle, one of Einstürzenden Neubauten’s studios, where alongside Neubauten’s house producer and engineer Boris Wilsdorf, the album’s production was completed, adding vocals and bass, before the visionary German band’s sound engineer worked with Geniuser on the mixing process.
Allen’s deep baritone vocals and poignant lyrics are perfectly reflected in De Bellis’ production. The lyrics for the first standalone single, ‘Epiphany’, focus on Allen’s personal demons; the music always comes first”, explains Michael talking about the track, “I need to live with it for a short while. It eventually speaks to me and offers me the subject matter. I do realise the preponderance of certain imagery. I guess I did need to exorcise a number of things, which had been festering inside me for a number of years.”
Capturing and reinventing the early post-punk ethos through a contemporary combination of electronic sounds, the album is a visceral body of work, a bold and complex expression of fury, where Allen’s analysis of religion, spirituality and their roles within our society – as well as his political advocacy – are driven by a sense of anxiety underscored by harsh propulsive rhythms, which makes ‘I Am’ a raw and brooding masterpiece.