Whispering Sons share new single "Heat", with new album "Several Others" out 18th June via [PIAS]!
Today, Belgian five-piece Whispering Sons follow the recent announcement of their much-anticipated second album “Several Others” with their new single "Heat".
Fast-paced and ferocious, lead singer Fenne Kuppens delivers her signature low register vocals (inspired by artists such as Xiu Xiu and Chinawoman) over angular guitars and bullish drums, hatching an explosive energy that sees the band release their most hook-laden song to date.
The track was inspired by film noir classic ‘Night and the City’, guitarist Kobe Lijnen was captivated by the imagery of fast movement contrasting with confrontation. This is reflected by the very direct verses opposed to the grander and wider sounding choruses. ‘Heat’ was one of the first songs to be written for the new album, but one of the last to be finished. The theme of confrontation became central to the lyrics, resulting in a candid and straightforward song.
The single is also accompanied by a dramatic new music video, which is a visual collaboration between filmmaker Maan Methven and fashion designer Paule Josephe. Inspired by the way Fenne performs on stage, they created an encircling world of their own in which there was room to exteriorize Fenne’s inner force.
Feeling heat and destruction; scars in the body, scars in the land, they weave the force of a wild bird and a burning moon to break loose from alienation and dive into emotional intensity.
The new song follows the recent release of album closers, “Satantango” and “Surgery”, which were announced alongside the news of the band's forthcoming album. The band also released a ltd. edition 7" of their earlier single "Surface" last month, which sold out of all 500 copies in less than 15 hours, as well as earning plaudits from a vast array of publications.
"Several Others" marks Whispering Sons first full-length release since their 2018 debut "Image", which saw them
garner early support at press and radio as well as tallying
up millions of streams for their dark and unique blend of experimental and frenetic post-punk. Similarly, prior to lockdown, their infamously ferocious live shows had also seen them begin to firmly cement themselves as a must-see live band playing alongside the likes of The Murder Capital, Patti Smith, The Soft Moon and Croatian Amor.
Although it’s coming up to a year since they last played a gig – they were the support for Editors on their European tour at the beginning of 2020 – the band haven’t forgotten their power as performers.
“Live, we try to be direct, and we wanted to translate it to this record. That’s why it’s a lot drier, more punchy, more in your face,”
Kobe says.
Along with the record, they’ll be releasing each single along with a corresponding live session, to be compiled and released as a live film along with the record which features visuals that centre on a recurring image of a woman dancing and slowly transforming into something inhuman, eventually leading to destruction and purification.
The new material sees the band distil the ferocious post-punk aesthetics from which their sound first emerged and pushes them to the absolute limit. The tracks toy with the delicate balance between moments of fragility and their capability for relentless and driving intensity, experimenting at the point in which no wave, industrial and avant-punk converge. The anxious and propulsive instrumentation is eerily abstracted, whilst Fenne Kuppens’ words, inject that extra central tension and darkness.
Having retreated to the Ardennes last summer to work on the new material, the band took the strongest parts of their earlier work and refined them even further with a strong focus on their greatest strength – sheer, unpretentious intensity. Whispering Sons have constantly outstripped their own expectations. With every momentous step forward that they take, they redraw the boundaries of what they consider possible then duly go beyond them yet again.
“Several Others” is out 18th June via [PIAS].
Pre-order here.