Following up from incendiary first single Taman Shud, The Drones have revealed new track To Think That I Once Loved You, and further details on their much anticipated 7th studio album.
As the band’s chief songwriter, frontman Gareth Liddiard has never stopped short when it comes to injecting rawness and passion into The Drones’ music. Their latest single is no exception.
Sprawling yet minimalistic, To Think That I Once Loved You employs fevered imagery of isolation and dejection built around the repetition of title lyric, “To think that I once loved you.” Downtempo percussion and sparing synth layers are gradually joined by the backing of Melbourne vocal ensemble Harmony, and Liddiard’s seething vocals to create magnificent crescendos. An accompanying video takes the bleakness up to 11, with black and white imagery of The Drones and their guest performers in action.
Sharing a few words with The Guardian, Liddiard revealed that their latest work draws influence from cult German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten, who the band shared a bill with at All Tomorrow’s Parties’ I’ll Be Your Mirror festival in 2012. The singer also noted that he had taken some cues from the literate lyricisms of experimental Wu-Tang Clan rapper GZA.
The frontman talked candidly about the creative direction of their latest album, titled Feelin Kinda Free.
“The record is really out there. We’ve recorded some pretty whacked out shit in the past but certain annoying factors have always gotten in the way of us going full throttle, in that respect. I think the fans who go for that whole guitar-and-songwriting schtick might get a shock…the people who like us for our weirdness and who know what we personally get into will think we’ve finally done what we were supposed to do” Gareth stated.
When we interviewed Drones drummer Christian Strybosch last year, he told us what to expect on the new album: “We’re a band who just can’t keep doing the same thing. It’s probably what you’ll hear on the new record – it’s a bit of a departure from what The Drones have ever sounded like.”
Feelin Kinda Free is set to drop on March 18.
Read more: Then and Now: The Drones’ Christian Strybosch on ten years of ‘Wait Long By The River’