Album Review: Preocuppations Have “New Material” To Deal With Old Ways

Preoccupations’ New Material plays off like a nightmarish, Greek Tragedy: both beautiful and terrifying. You can just imagine Antigone in her cell, ready to die, praying to gods to help her accept what she should not: injustice and unfairness. It is weird to say I have to accept what should not be, but it is the only way to make sure it is undone. Thus, New Material is really about new approaches.

Matt Flegels’ lyrics are like hands swishing through water. They are so human in contrast to what feels so elemental, but they are also questioning as to whether humanity’s best and worst is elemental or natural, as well. ‘Disarray”, “Manipulation”, and “Doubt” prod the fears of giving in to the fact that human beings fear by nature. If our worst is natural, then Preoccupations use sound to make our best feel supernatural. From “Compliance” to “Espionage”, New Material’s soundscape is built on the unknown. I know Preoccupations use bass, guitars, and drums, but they meld every single instrumental like iron to form a machine the with so many parts you wonder what keeps it going?

Preoccupations’ ability to sonically use what you know to help you embrace what you do not is exemplar, and relies on Flegel’s seedy, sooted vocals to oddly give you ease. There is a griminess to Flegel’s vocality that makes feel like soil being caked and smoothed over melodies that are jagged and sworded. This contrast only builds his lyrical clash of trying to figure out what is human: our darkness, our light, or some strange blend of both. The fight of either our ego or spirit to dominate us and the world is an ongoing battle. Preoccupations have made a record that is pressed in with art-punk and industrial noise influences to make sure you know that feelings move systems. For More Information on Preoccupations’ New Material, out March 23, and to see their Rough Trade show on April 19 Click Here.