If Espionage – the hectic, intense reintroduction to Preoccupations, and first to be taken from their forthcoming New Material full-length – set a suitably caliginous tone for a suite ostensibly intended as an “ode to depression”, then Antidote doesn’t necessarily follow suit. For at first, Matt Flegel’s hooky, cyclical bass line closely recalls segments of Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, clashing gloriously with Mike Wallace’s raucously cacophonous, almost metallic drums as it does so. Yet totally bipartite in terms of structure, somewhere around the midpoint, a more volatile, tense vibe takes hold once more as Flegel recites a mantric strophe with frenzied relish. And it’s precisely this which – by design or serendipitous coincidence – New Material now looks set to engender next month…
New Material is available from March 23rd via Jagjaguwar, while Preoccupations play Village Underground on June 5th.