Foie Gras caught my attention last year with her sultry, dark single ‘Red Moon’. A year later and she has finally released her new EP. It’s a dark techno-rock brooding collage of songs that shows the huge potential Foie Gras has as she moves away from the drone scene.
Opening with the driving synths of ‘Psychic Sobriety’ I’m immediately reminded of Ladytron. There’s a parallel between how both Ladytron and Foie Gras combine indie pop synths and a grizzly guitar buzz to make an edgier sound. It’s catchy, it’s dark with detuned embellishments and Foie Gras’ voice is suitably annoyed and dismissive. ‘God Lived As A Devil Dog’ turns towards the gothic darkwave sound, using her drone history to great effect. There are tinges of Zola Jesus here and there but at a slow disco. It bursts beautifully into ‘Sisyphus’ which combines the best of the two previous tracks into its own mumbly anti-anthem.
The epic single ‘Red Moon’ comes next. After three more synth-rock based tracks, here the feeling is more rocking with synths. The rolling drums, throbbing bass line and disembodied vocals all come together like a ritual and its power is far greater than the sum of its initial parts. After the pensive tautness, ‘Hate Fantasy’ unleashes a frenzied lashing of guitar feedback and high-speed keyboard patterns. Foie Gras decides for this track the chorus needs a bellowing slowly chant of ‘come with me’ and so the whole track has a warped nightmare feel to it. It’s pretty fantastic. The EP closes with ‘Latex Sun (for Una)’ which channels organs and soft percussion like many a PJ Harvey b-side.
When Foie Gras combines her loves of synth, rock, drone and darkness she is able to concoct an excellent potion of grizzling, gritty music. It draws you in by how it grinds into your brain and doesn’t let go until the fuzz fades away. An excellent discovery in 2019 for those needing to purge some demons musically.
Recommended track: Red Moon
If you like what I do, and would like to help me make better and more content then please consider supporting me via Patreon. Thank you.
If you have this release, you can comment with your own score below.
Foie Gras - Holy Hell
