I had the chance to catch Julian Casablancas’ new side project at the FYF fest, and the set sounded a bit strange: he and his band played a few new songs, then could not play more for some obscure label restriction, so continued with some lighter stuff…. It was not very consistent but lighter because I got the impression that this new Julian Casablancas + The Voidz material was pretty dark stuff, but also emotional and ambitious.
I got a sort of answer today with a new tune, ‘Human Sadness’, posted on YouTube, and this is quite a song, or rather this is beyond a song, more like an experimental 11-minute track deploying so many layers and detours it will certainly make your brain explode. It is a challenge to even talk about this thing, that might be a total mess or a true masterpiece…. I couldn’t make sense of it at the first listening ,and I am not sure this has changed, but I am totally in love right now. This is the kind of emotional and endless chaos that will let you ponder for a few minutes, then, if you are willing to enjoy the ride, it will sound to your ears like a new symphonic adventure or a space odyssey before being swallowed by a black hole.
How many layers are in there? How many hooks are carried away by a storm? How did they get to morph Mozart’s Requiem (the first few seconds at the beginning) into what could have been a nostalgic pop song? It’s patchy and messy, like a collage of your life you see before dying. The music grows more ambitious at each second and there is more going on in one minute of this song than in the entire Strokes’ last album. It goes into some glorious and operatic psychedelia, then dies a few times before another fuzzy-bombastic moment, as if several different tracks were playing at the same time, over Casablancas’ vocals alternating between angst and eeriness. Well, the experience is pretty indescribable, and Strokes’ fan may be deeply confused. Then there are the lyrics (Pitchfork has them as they are quite impossible to get with the distorted vocals) which include this recurrent sentence by Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Rumi: ‘Beyond all ideas of right and wrong there is a field I will be meeting you there’.
If you like, it it’s only $0.59 on Cult Records, and you can also pre-order the album ‘Tyranny’ (that will be out on September 23rd) via the label. And to make things even cooler, ‘Tyranny’ will be available in multiple physical configurations, cassette, CD, vinyl, and a limited edition mini-lighter sleeve containing high-quality MP3s of the album on a built in USB flash drive… as odd as the song, but is this an encouragement to smoke?
Julian Casablancas + The Voidz will also be on tour very soon:
MONTERREY, MX – SEP 19 – HELLOW FESTIVAL – BUY TICKETS
PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCT 16 – ELECTRIC FACTORY – BUY TICKETS
WASHINGTON DC – OCT 17 – 9:30 CLUB – BUY TICKETS
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – OCT 18 – JEFFERSON THEATRE – BUY TICKETS
CHATTANOOGA, TN – OCT 20 – TRACK 29 – BUY TICKETS
NASHVILLE, TN – OCT 21 – MARATHON MUSIC WORKS – BUY TICKETS
ATLANTA, GA – OCT 22 – MASQUERADE – BUY TICKETS
TAMPA, FL – OCT 25 – CORAL SKIES FEST – BUY TICKETS
WEST PALM, FL – OCT 26 – CORAL SKIES FEST – BUY TICKETS
BIRMINGHAM, AL – OCT 28 – IRON CITY – BUY TICKETS
AUSTIN, TX – OCT 30 – EMO’S – BUY TICKETS
HOUSTON, TX – OCT 31 – HOUSE OF BLUES – BUY TICKETS
DALLAS, TX – NOV 1 – CHIVE FEST – BUY TICKETS
SANTA ANA, CA – NOV 5 – THE OBSERVATORY – BUY TICKETS
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOV 6 – WILTERN THEATRE – BUY TICKETS
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – NOV 9 – REGENCY CENTER – BUY TICKETS
PORTLAND, OR – NOV 11 – CRYSTAL BALLROOM – BUY TICKETS
VANCOUVER, BC – NOV 12 – COMMODORE – BUY TICKETS
SEATTLE, WA – NOV 13 – SHOWBOX – BUY TICKETS
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOV 17 – FIRST AVE – BUY TICKETS CHICAGO, IL – NOV 18 – THE VIC – BUY TICKETS
DETROIT, MI – NOV 19 – ST. ANDREWS – BUY TICKETS
TORONTO, ON – NOV 21 – KOOL HAUS – BUY TICKETS
MONTREAL, QC – NOV 22 – VIRGIN MOBILE CORONA THEATRE – ON SALE SOON
NEW YORK, NY – NOV 25 – HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM – BUY TICKETS
BOSTON, MA – NOV 26 – HOUSE OF BLUES – BUY TICKETS
