
Distinctive and inventive, melodic yet defiantly off-kilter. Unique. And above all, unmistakably dEUS. That much is clear from the opening few bars of “How To Replace It”, the title track of the new album, which will be out this Friday, February 17 via [PIAS] Recordings.
Pitch-shifted timpani drums heralding the return of a band who’ve made a virtue out of defying convention. “Arresting,” says singer Tom Barman of the idea; spoken word delivery, a searing guitar line, and a trumpet phrase – the latter punctuating a cacophonous crescendo, the band deciding to “just go fucking apeshit” – add to the sense of eclecticism.
Even that title – mysterious, oblique – scans as being fantastically unknowable, hinting at a deep sense of wisdom. “I like the openness of it,” says Barman. Follow the lyrical clues, and you might conclude “it” concerns romance and ageing; squint a little, and you might alight on modernity being the malaise described. Either way, fueling intrigue is by design. “It’s a question, it’s an answer…it’s up to the listener to decide.”
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