Open Head Share “House” from debut album: Listen

Last month, experimental Hudson Valley band Open Head announced their signing to Wharf Cat with the single “Catacomb.” This will be the closing track of their upcoming album What is success?which they’re announcing today with a new, angst-ridden single called “House.” It is brooding and dark, with hints of industrial elements that underline its rapid pace. The band says in a press release:

“House” grew out of a crucial jam session during the writing of the album. The band had a lot of songs, but many felt trapped in an edgy, hectic post-punk vocabulary that they wanted to escape. Creating tonal landscapes became more important than complicated melodies, and back then much was about the simple immediacy of electronic music and the punk attitude of experimental rap. Following these impulses, Jon ditched his bass guitar in favor of an Arturia Brute SE, focusing more on sound manipulation than a linear bass line, and Jared triggered scrap metal samples on an SPD-SX, running through his guitar effects pedals. These became the main melodic elements of the song. Brandon strummed a guitar he had prepared with several screwdriver bits, creating the haunting pads that swirled around. The lyrics imagine a machine made of flesh and metal limbs that strides along in a kind of destructive, tortured state: “I don’t want to know what habit forms chains/I just want to be done for a while.”

Listen to “House” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Success”
02 “Fiends don’t lose”
03 “Monotone”
04 “NY Frills”
05 “*INOY”
06 “Take it from me”
07 “House”
08 “Direct hit”
09 “Julo”
10 “Palace District”
11 “Catacomb”

What is success? appears on January 24th. via Wharf Cat.