Post-punk/art-rock outfit Cosmopolis releases their new single, “Nixon-Manson,” a darkly captivating, and beguiling song. The music video will follow on March 4.
Talking about the song, Cosmopolis says, “Nixon-Manson is Cosmopolis’ new single, and it’s probably the closest we shall ever come to writing a musical – albeit the darkest and scariest musical you’ll ever experience. We are fascinated with the late 1960s and wanted to convey in words and music an era dominated by political corruption, the death of idealism, the crumbling of empire, and some moments of pure evil that changed popular culture forever.”
Made up of Gavin Kendall (vocals, multi-instrumentalist), Nicholas Platten (guitars), and David Hussey (drums, percussion), Cosmopolis’ members are located throughout the world – Belgium, Australia, and England. Their songs are recorded in multiple locations and are arranged, mixed, and mastered in the cloud.
Cosmopolis’ sound is shadowy and haunting, blending darkwave, post-punk, and post-rock elements and is influenced by the Velvet Underground, Radiohead, and Massive Attack.
“Nixon-Manson” opens on eerie emerging guitar tones flowing into a tight, crunching rhythm topped by grimacing, gleaming guitar imbuing the tune with ghostly colors. A thick bassline and stellar drumming from Hussey give the rhythm portentous energy.
Kendall’s spectral vocals infuse the lyrics with wickedly risky timbres, adding the song’s foreboding mood. Wraithlike wails from Platten’s guitar inject the harmonics with diabolic coloration. Dripping with Stygian, roiling energy, “Nixon-Manson” hits at gut level. Culminating on heavy wall-of-sound hellish textures, the song sends distorted sensations rippling through listeners’ diaphragms.
Cosmopolis has it going on! “Nixon-Manson” simmers with vibrations of black evil and a rictus of deepening ennui.
