It’s been a while since I did one of these, but I can’t think of a better time than now, on the eve of the release of ‘MOVE’, for the five or so of you folks that are interested.

Ok, it’s been a long time coming but it’s finally getting released in the next week or so. We’ve done an album every decade for the last 20 years, what the Hell more do you want?

Humour aside, I’d like to talk a bit about the release and what it means to us.

MOVE
verb, moved, mov•ing, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to pass from one place or position to another.
2. to go from one place of residence to another.
3. to advance or progress.
4. to have a regular motion, as an implement or a machine; turn; revolve.
5. to sell or be sold.
6. to start off or leave.
7. to transfer a piece in a game, as chess or checkers.
8. (of the bowels) to discharge or eject the faeces; evacuate.
9. to be active in a particular sphere.
10. to take action; proceed.
11. to make a formal request, application, or proposal.

We were always going to get darker. It’s been the plan all along, that and experiment more. The album you’ll (all five of you) be exposed to in the next couple of weeks has been a long and convoluted process. You may have read about a change in our sound or a change in direction, that’s not strictly true, it’s just what has come next. The true follow up to ‘Famine...’, a band that has grown up together and got used to each other and become a unit working 50/50 as opposed to two people playing their instruments in their own little corner.

In the middle of 2010, when half the album had already been written, we had the urge to play live, obviously without splitting ourselves into four people this was never going to work. So we looked at alternate ways of conveying our message. One thing we learnt is that whatever we do and however we do it, it still sounds like HA. And THIS, my friends, is the second step on the ladder to a further evolution.

A few words about the tracks;

1. The Way it Ends – A song about what is happening around us now, the weather is screwed, natural disasters riddle the Earth, culture is dead and everything is full, bloated, dying. The worst thing is, it’s too late. You can be as ‘pro-active’ as you like, try and reduce your ‘carbon footprint’, recycle etc. All you are doing is slowing down by the tiniest degree the death of a planet that is already on life-support. Enjoy what you are doing now and watch it collapse. It’s better to come to terms with it. The track begins with the sound of a credit card we taped to a large industrial fan and continues into a grinding hypnotic dirge, highlighted by melodic synth and a sea of wailing guitars. I was genuinely livid when I recorded the vocals and I think you can hear that immediately.

2. Human Clockwork – This is about a man who wakes up one morning and realises how controlled he is by everything. His life seems planned out. He starts to feel like a robot, and after a while becomes convinced he is one. He becomes obsessed with the nagging feeling that he is not a real human being. He opens himself up, only to find that he is human after all. Any amateur psychologists in the house? This track is one that has been hanging around in one form or another since 2009. It was great to go back to it. Note the anti-crescendo at the end of the song.

3. Copper Foundation – A song about self doubt. This is one of the first tracks we did after ‘Famine...’ we wanted to break the mould we had created a bit. Another hypnotic dirge. Again, with this track I was so angry when performing I didn’t even follow the lyrics.

4. Poundland – This fucking Country. When they aren’t counting coppers they’re wasting it on crap. Blindly spending money they don’t have on shit they don’t need. Ok, we all do it to a certain extent (actually, no. I need records and books to live damn it...). Don’t get me started on the Royals. We actually wrote this track last, didn’t take us very long really. The ‘whooshing’ sound you hear before the verses is a drill pounding into the studio wall.

5. Buried – A song about being rotten. Having a rotten soul and mind and keeping that a secret. It’s about taking yourself apart bit by bit and examining the contents.

6. Spies in the Wire – This is a Cabaret Voltaire cover. A different mix than you may have heard already. Thanks to Todestrieb for working hard on licensing the song.

7. Hive Mind – Hive mentality, people who can’t see outside their little niche really get to me. Blinkered fools who judge without thinking. Quick to accuse the little bastards are. Connoisseurs will note the sample from Charles Bronson towards the end of the track.

8. The Lost – This has a similar message to the first track on the album. The most ‘pop’ song on the album and this will probably be the last time we sound as such. Never say never though.

So there it is – listen to as loud as you can, preferably on headphones whilst stalking the streets and looking directly into people’s eyes. A few pints won’t hurt either.

The artwork is all done by S. From Todestrieb records and once again I have to thank him for his visionary photography.

Hopefully we’ll able to do some shows that do us justice and I look forward to meeting all five of you for a cold beer.
V/M