News, Reviews

FACS Announce New Album “Present Tense” due 21st May on Trouble in Mind & Share New Single “Strawberry Cough”

March 4, 2021

FACS

Announce New Album, Present Tense
Due 21st May on Trouble in Mind

Share new single “Strawberry Cough” 

Chicago trio FACS never stop pushing forward; they’ve honed and refined their stark, minimal scrape and clatter for four years and counting, having risen out of the ashes of Disappears in 2018 with the bone-rattling intensity of Negative Houses. The trio return in 2021 with Present Tense, their fourth album and perhaps their sharpest statement as a band.

Alongside the announcement, they’ve shared new single “Strawberry Cough“, with an accompanying video made by the band’s Brian Case, who says of it:

“Strawberry Cough is about the world of interiors, and the line between where influences come together or split off. Going into record stores and having conversations with strangers, learning about new sounds, and finding something I’ve been looking for has been sorely missed over the last year.

“Seeing records spread out all over the house while working on Present Tense made me wonder how these different eras and sounds found their way into our music. I spent a lot of time trying to find the visual / emotional connections between seemingly unrelated works, and walking that back into my subconscious when writing. Sometimes the video is a visualization of the words or music, and sometimes it’s just some random themes you notice while refiling your record collection.”

FACS lead with this hypnotizing rhythm before the brooding and immersive vocals soar above the hypnotic waves that cascade. This prominent and daring bass emerges with the powerful drum kit leaving a mark!

FACS have developed this impressive atmosphere that obliterates, the power they’ve created is something else. They pull the audience into their vision and thats exactly where we all want to be. This trio create such a dynamic and momentous sound you’d expect this outfit to be double it’s size. Their energy is so contagious.

Present Tense opener “XOUT” barrels forward like a tank, with Brian Case’s guitar chiming like warning bells, until the climax comes crashing down, glitching out near the close. “Strawberry Cough” comes next, its fusion of corporeal playing and stately, electronic heartbeats punctured by random bursts of noise or backwards masked sounds.
 
“Alone Without”, a track originally recorded for Adult Swim’s 2020 singles series appears next, albeit in different form; more menacing and serpentine. Side two opens with “General Public”, taking the loud/quiet dynamic as a jumping off point for the song’s unsettling seasick vibe. ‘How To See In the Dark” offers a brief respite, with its persistent, dark quietude that lingers until the song’s end. “Present Tense”, the album’s title track, offers up its first truly weird moment mid-song when the song changes mood distinctly, and the music drops out save for Case’s guitar and vocals.
 
The album’s final track, the densely packed “Mirrored”, begins with a restrained, post-rock shuffle. The mind-scrambling cacophony that comes next takes its time to roll in, but once it does, it comes in waves, flipping back onto itself multiple times until it’s folded into oblivion. 
 
FACS once again shuttered themselves into Electrical Audio with lauded engineer Sanford Parker to lay down the basic tracks and overdubs for Present Tense. This time, the band approached their songwriting from a different angle “Alone Without was the first song we recorded and we really built it in the studio” Case says, “Alianna and I played different instruments, and I think that freedom informed how the other songs developed. All the lyrics were random phrases on a big sheet and were put together as the songs took shape, so I feel like I was collecting these thoughts and trying to figure out how to process them as a big picture vs making complete ideas in individual songs.”
 
Case adds ”…letting the songs go where they wanted, without steering them into what we all think a FACS album should be.” The change is palpable from last year’s claustrophobic and fried Void Moments, but Present Tense is still ALL FACS, albeit draped in a layer of haze. Paranoia in soft focus, perhaps? 
 
FACS are guitarist Brian Case, drummer Noah Leger and bassist Alianna Kalaba.
 
Present Tense is released on CD, black vinyl (a limited “Cheeto Mist” vinyl version is available while supplies last) and will be available via most digital retailers and streaming services. 

Tracklisting:
1. XOUT
2. Strawberry Cough
3. Alone Without
4. General Public
5. How To See In The Dark
6. Present Tense
7. Mirrored

https://wearefacs.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/wearefacs/

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