Swallow the Rat: new single and mind-blowing video ‘Terra Nullius’ out today
Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau post-punk psych trio Swallow the Rat are very pleased to unveil their new single Terra Nullius.
Emerging post-pandemic as a reinvigorated three piece, Swallow the Rat (guitarist Brian Purington, drummer/vocalist Hayden Fritchley, bassist/vocalist Stephen Horsley) return with a dual vocal attack, where voices now soar, growl or reassure, while the stripped down format provides for more space and dynamics.
Lyrically, the floodgates have opened too. Looking over their shoulder, the band survey the legacy of colonialism, neoliberalism and the internet, as well as broken friendships, and things torn apart as if by a locust cloud.
New single Terra Nullius is a song in two parts, exploring the repercussions of white privilege in two different scenarios. The song initially confronts the part played by settlers in dishonest land deals with Māori in Aotearoa, before moving to the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, where 39 people died, and 35 square blocks of the Greenwood neighbourhood were destroyed.
Terra Nullius is taken from Swallow the Rat’s forthcoming second album, South Locust, which is due out on September 1st via UK label Shifting Sounds.
Listen to Terra Nullius on Spotify
