Kllo & Nearly Oratorio members Armlock share new single "Turf War".
Armlock, the project of multi-instrumentalists, Simon Lam and Hamish Mitchell, are today sharing the new single, "Turf War" which follows on the heels of the track "Power of a Waterfall". This comes as the second instalment from the forthcoming debut release, Trust which is out via Solitaire Recordings on June 22, 2021.
Trust is a remarkably nuanced collection of music. It's one that explores disillusionment with adulthood and the inner conflicts that come with personal growth with a shrewd sense of self-awareness and honesty. This new single, "Turf War" finds the duo enlisting Lam's partner, Juice Webster for backing vocals whilst summoning more of those glowing, fuzzy textures that were denoted on the debut single, this time dressing Lam's whispered vocals around delicately plucked guitar and pensive percussion.
“Turf War” is an ode to moving on without closure. Lowkey strings play as Lam sings, “Never spoke that’s how I fight,” nailing the way the things left unsaid often hit the hardest. There’s an essence of mixed feelings to the track, combining bitterness at the loss of the relationship with thankfulness that it happened in the first place: “I loved when my fingers froze/I loved when we got the perks/I loved when we missed the flight/We were vengeful through the night.” The song ends with wordless harmonies over a soft but insistent drumbeat, accepting that things will continue on, for better or worse, with or without reconciliation.
Lam says of the new single:
"It's about saying goodbye to a friend – again. That kind of post-fighting stage in a relationship where you can both freely accept all the flaws and are happy to leave things unresolved. So far past the arguments that I’m ultimately appreciative of the experiences, especially the bad ones."
Previously the Australian duo have worked together as 2/3 of the electronic outfit, I'lls (who earned comparisons to Portishead, Four Tet and Radiohead from Pitchfork) with Lam then forming Kllo alongside his cousin, amassing 100 million streams and support at Pitchfork & The Guardian, before helming his solo project, Nearly Oratorio.
Trust will be released June 22 on Solitaire Recordings. It is available for preorder here.