Huntings Release Tense New Single Ahead Of Album (Irish Post Punk/Grunge)
The dark, brooding sound of HUNTINGS is the product of James and Brian Edwards, brothers that eschewed the need for a bass player, stripping back their sound to the core elements of guitar, vocals and drums. In simplicity they found power. Melding the speaker shredding distortion of Nirvana to the intrinsic tension of Joy Division. Following the release of their single ‘Doom’ earlier in the year which caught the sharpened ears of PureM Zine, Turn Up The Volume, the Beat.ie, Rock N Load who all bestowing praise on the track. As well as radio play from Amplify with Ailsha on RTE2XM, New Music Sonar, Alternative Frequencies and Code Zero Radio. The band return now with their new single ‘Sparks’ from their forthcoming album ‘Songs of Last Resort’.
Formed from the ashes of a previous project after the bass player left, James (guitar/vocals) and Brian (drums) began writing as a two piece. Wrapping up rock influences along side more eclectic influences like Portishead and Massive Attack, the name HUNTINGS seemed to capture the explorative nature of the songs. ‘Sparks’ was born of this experimental approach, initially conceived by Brian using a guitar pedal with some pre-programmed drum beats as a function, he built a guitar riff around the programmed drums. Already a left field approach, a drummer, using a guitar pedal for drums, and writing the guitar riff. This no rules approach for the band gave rise to the second single from their album.
The brothers have an uncanny ability to create tension and disquiet in their music which ‘Sparks’ employs from the outset. The simple pairing of Brians drums and a guitar line that could double as a bass line instantly put the listener on edge. This slow build allows the band to build the intensity of the track, as the guitar joins in with full chords, the tension ramps up. Initially only a tease as the band pull back again before launching into the maelstrom of the chorus. Buzzsaw guitars, give way to towering walls of distortion, crashing cymbals and a snare that’s being hit as though its responsible for all the wrongs of the human race, add bullet hole punctuation marks to the James’s vocals. James took a half heard, half remembered approach to the lyrics, only allowing the listener to be shown part of the picture, lines trail off or are left unresolved. Only adding another layer of unease against the chorus refrain of ‘It’s OK’ when its clearly anything but. Theres an eye of the storm moment in the middle of the song, as it breaks to a clean sparkly guitar, with some acoustic embellishment. Underneath it though remains a half broken, speaker shredded guitar, which seems reflective of the lyrics and intent behind the song, for everything pretty thing, there’s an ugliness just under the surface. The track ends with HUNTINGS wailing away on the instruments, as they struggle to stay together under the combined pressure.
Recorded at Soundcaster Studios, Dublin the band turned to Terry Doyle to engineer and produce. Opting to take the approach for short recording sessions as opposed to long days in the studio. This helped keep ears fresh and allow for experimentation. Favouring the Albini way of recording, the band recorded live, keen to capture to energy and performance element of the song. When you hit play it should feel like the band are playing in front of you in the room
The video comes with a flash warning, giving a visual language to track as they hammer away on their instruments. These brief flashes/sparks seem to accentuate the duality of the track, the catharsis against reassurance, exorcism against hope.
The bands album ‘Songs of Last Resort’ is out October 24th which the band launch a day before with a special show at Whelans, October 23rd and a Cork launch in Fred Zeppelins 2nd November.