New York-based experimental rock music collective, Wrekmeister Harmonies, have recently announced their forthcoming album We Love to Look at the Carnage slated for February 2020 release via Thrill Jockey Records. According to a press release, the latest musical offering from the enigmatic duo that is Wrekmeister Harmonies “…sees the core duo of guitarist/vocalist JR Robinson and multi-instrumentalist Esther Shaw augmented by longtime friend and collaborator Thor Harris (Swans) on percussion and for the first time Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) on electronics. Both introducing surprising new sonics into Wrekmeister Harmonies stark music without sacrificing its intense intimacy.” The album is spearheaded by the ominously beautiful lead single “Coyotes of Central Park” to which can be streamed below, via Wrekmeister Harmonies’ bandcamp site.
According to the aforementioned Thrill Jockey site, keeping with the dark material they recorded for their latest musical offering We Love to Look at the Carnage was written, in part, in isolation. The site furthers that Harmonies’ core duo during the deep freeze of New York winter “…decamped from their home in Brooklyn to a cabin in Woodstock. Harris and Stewart were then sent the tracks to contribute additional layers however they were moved to, which were then mixed and edited with producer Martin Bisi at his BC Studios. Like much of Wrekmeister’s music over the years, Carnage draws heavily from literature. Influenced by Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, they find strength in stoicism. Robinson explains: ‘Stoicism is often misunderstood as being cold and indifferent toward difficult situations but it’s actually more appropriately described as hanging a more positive frame on the circumstances through the practice of negative visualization, that things could always be worse.’”
The press release concludes with the mood of Wrekmeister Harmonies latest musical offering We Love to Look at the Carnage “…charts a restless journey beginning in the middle of the night and ending in the small hours of the morning. Robinson’s brooding lyrics grapple with phantoms both real and imagined, apparitions amplified by the feverish anxiety of insomnia.” The experimental collective will be touring Europe in Spring 2020.
The track list for We Love to Look at the Carnage is as follows:
1. Midnight to Six
2. Still Life With Prick Cancer
3. Coyotes of Central Park
4. The Rat Catcher
5. Immolation
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