Sulfate Announces Third Album ‘And It Wants’
Aotearoa noise-rock outfit Sulfate have announced the details of their third album And It Wants – out October 23rd, with an exclusive vinyl release courtesy of a recent ongoing collaboration between Flying Nun Records and Holiday Records – each with their own exclusive colour variant, limited to 150 copies of each.
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Pre-Order Holiday Records Red + Black Marble’ Vinyl LP
Feral, devolved and running on instinct, the six songs on Sulfate’s third album And It Wants emerge from the grapple between David Harris unleashing on his drum kit, Zac Arnold conjuring fuzz and feedback and Peter Ruddell’s taut, wiry guitar-work and commanding baritone. Written and recorded in New Lynn’s industrial area, this new batch of songs were created on a diet of Cormac McCarthy novels, Adam Curtis documentaries and the madness of gothic horror.
Today, Sulfate emerged newly formed with their first offering, Aqui from the new album. Aqui drones into life, nasty and nasal, eyes bright, gasping for its next breath. Ruddell explains, “We dance around the fact that death comes for us all, but we never really, truly, acknowledge it – it’s just too big or heavy to have any kind of impact on our day to day existence. Aqui is about the desire to delay this inevitability, but in doing so creating an existence so devoid of joy, it’s as if you’re not living at all.”
Sonically, Sulfate set out some parameters at the outset of the album recordings – and it was important for things to sound real. The band wanted instruments to be played, and, importantly, sound like they’re being played, by real, living people – a conscious reaction to the modern, online, perfect-existence, social media-ness of it all. Audio engineer Emily Wheatcroft-Snape was recommended to the band because of her ability to capture sounds with accuracy and precision – and she encapsulated the live band just as they had hoped.
Pre-Order / Pre-Save And It Wants
“The writing of And It Wants was essentially starting a new band” notes Ruddell. “It was a clean slate after a long break – with two major changes: Zac Arnold joining on bass guitar, and me moving from an overly elaborate keyboard setup to an electric guitar with as few pedals as possible. When starting Wax Chattels, I felt that if I kept the instrumentation simple it would force the band to push the songs further – make the structures and arrangements more interesting – rather than getting trapped in the tone-zone. I think this had the same effect on And It Wants, where I found we were really digging in – creating intensity through repetition – and where David in particular really stretches out on the drum kit. Zac’s inclusion in the group has had a significant impact on the group as a whole, much in the same way Hariet Ellis impacted Godzone. The way Zac plays bass isn’t like anyone else – he creates walls of noise, which we embraced wholeheartedly on this new record, and his wealth of music knowledge provided great context and guidance as we were in the writing stages.”
Thematically, And It Wants sees Ruddell clinging to optimism and joy while being subject to the existential nihilism of our current hypernormal, western reality. “Death is all through this record. The songs were born out of the feeling that there are no rules, that nothing matters, and that we all die. The intent is to provide a sonic backdrop to dance ecstatically, liberated, as the world around you burns. Find comfort and joy in things while you can, even as the end draws near and darkness begins to ruminate.”
And It Wants was recorded at West Fried Sound by Emily Wheatcroft-Snape, with additional recording at Sulfate Studios by Peter Ruddell. Mixed by Ruddell, the album was then mastered by Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control). Since recording, Sulfate’s line up has expanded once more, introducing multi-instrumentalist Louisa Nicklin to the band’s inexorable live performances.
And It Wants is out digitally, and on two exclusive vinyl variants via Flying Nun Records and Holiday Records on October 23rd.
Photo Credit: Zoë Dunster
