American post-punk/noise rock group A Place to Bury Strangers (APTBS) have released the latest single from their upcoming album, See Through You. The single’s music video was directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle, known for his work in the horror genre (such as Dementer and Jug Face). It boasts a variety of disturbing imagery, such as a man being stabbed to death in a river by women without mouths, all of which are set against frenetic cuts back to the band playing.
The press release notes the video’s “flickering, kinetic visuals …. with scenes of grotesque public freakouts from the outskirts of the subliminal that are tied to a scorned woman’s black magic ritual.” The video will be the first in a series directed by people associated with the horror genre, promising plenty more gruesome and psychologically unnerving visuals to go hand-in-hand with the new album.
APTBS’ Oliver Ackermann said the song was about “the sound of friendship dying. At the time of writing this song, I was going out of my mind dwelling on conflict in my head and beating myself down while trying to rebuild my faith in humanity which is reflected in the actual structure of the song. The drums build with this frustration and a desire to scream with no voice. Listen closely to the vocal phrasing of ‘I’m Hurt’ in the chorus and you can hear the self-doubt and failure I was experiencing at the time“.
The single is the third release from their upcoming album, following “Let’s See Each Other“ and “Hold on Tight“. The album is due for digital release next February 4th, but vinyl-lovers out there will have to wait till March 11th. It will be the band’s sixth studio album, following up 2018’s Pinned. If you want to pre-order, you can look here.
The band’s press release describes See Through You as repeatedly delivering “the massive walls of chaos and noise that every A Place To Bury Strangers fan craves. See Through You is an explosive journey which explores the listener’s limits of mind-bending madness while simultaneously offering the catchiest batch of songs in the band’s discography. It’s a nod of the cap to the art school ethos of the band’s origins, while forging a new and clear direction forward. Simply put, See Through You promises to be an epic, instant classic.“
However, the new album isn’t all. Despite having delayed what would have been a January-February North American tour due to COVID, new dates for May and June will be announced soon. And they’re also going to be making their way around Europe through March and April, so stay tuned for further developments here.
