Vantablack EP
It’s not wrong to categorize Vantablack as a “product of pandemic anxiety”. The EP materialized right in the middle of when the world went into lockdown – when uncertainty was running high and all future plans were thrown out the window. Suffice to say it coloured the mood of the EP, sonically, lyrically and aesthetically.
It was difficult not to be stuck “doom scrolling” and consuming trash content during the pandemic. Most of us only had ourselves as company. We started to lose our sense of self. Vantablack was an EP borne out of trying to snap out of that deflating slump.
The term Vantablack was something we gravitated towards, admittedly because it sounded cool and looked cool on paper, but more than that it was its behaviour of absorbing its surroundings that sparked an idea. We drew comparisons between the Vantablack material and the human psyche and how we constantly consume things – which made us wonder, to what extent can we keep on consuming content without compromising our true selves?
Liminal
The first track of the EP serves as an introduction to the album’s sound and theme. With Vantablack, we experimented more with samples and electronic textures, while still leaning on the “guitar-bass and drum” setup that we’re used to. The overall sound of this track later influenced the rest of the EP, basing it heavily off of samples that evoke a sense of place but also a sense of mystery. Lyrically, the song talks about an awakening, a knock on the head from sinking deeper into our thoughts. That state of mind, while harrowing, could eventually be a place we discover another part of yourself.
Hedonist
One of the long standing leftovers from previous eras. It was difficult finding a home for this track as it was kind of a newer sound than whatever else we were writing at that time. The track was heavily influenced by Deerhunter – chaotic and messy, but still with a certain swagger. We usually love to have contrasting parts to our song structures and Hedonist is a prime example of that: it starts off with an explosion and later locks itself into an almost dance-y groove. Without going into too much detail, with lyrics like: “death to inhibitions” and a title like “Hedonist” we feel the lyrics are pretty self explanatory. It’s like a mantra for someone who’s unchained, chasing the next big high, leaving in their wake a big mess of mistakes.
Vantablack
As the title track, this was the one song that we felt like we’ve locked onto a direction with. It was written and mostly recorded in one night based off of a voice note of the melody and the drum beat, which true enough, we feel those two elements are the backbone of the entire track. It’s one of our simplest songs but personally, one of our favourites. Similar to Hedonist, it has a sort of yin and yang structure. An anxious first half, and a euphoric second half. Working with simple elements, we had to crank up the knobs, evident by the overkill Daft Punk-y bassline at the end and a maxed out overdrive’d guitar riff. This song was also kind of therapeutic to write. It was reflective of our feelings at that time too – uncertainty, anxiety, etc – it made us think back to better days, but then again nostalgia always has a cost where it makes everything in the present and the future feel very bleak: “Vantablack takes you back, back when time was free. It’s a trap, sneak attack on your memories”.
What We Said
What We Said is a stasis of time, a melancholic meditation of the past and present. We dipped our toes into slightly ambient territory, using sharp guitar strums to drive the song, while surrounded by a dense layer of fuzz and drone noise. The textures are rough, but the mood and writing is gentle – we’ve always been drawn to bringing opposite ideas together.
Super Trial
Like Hedonist, this was a track leftover from our Chingichanga days. Heavily inspired by the math rock band Dirgahayu, it was kind of like our take on that style of music – technical, odd time signature, guitar and beat driven – but at the same time having a strong melodic core. It was also one of the most difficult tracks to complete. It was only when we added vocals to the song that it sort of came together (which our friend thought it sounded like a religious sermon). The sentiment of the song is basically about the current situation where society is expecting everyone to be perfect and clean of sin – it’s kind of vision of a future where “cancel culture” is law and social media is the judge. “Don’t go through my files, while I’m in my Super Trial”.
Phoenix Down
We lost a few loved ones along the way in 2020, and this song was written with them in mind. Phoenix Down refers to an item in the video game series Final Fantasy, which is used to bring the dead to life. Here we sort of toned down the sharp edges and dark moods of the other tracks and tried to be sort of as euphoric as possible. We’re not really shoegaze fans but somehow we think we wrote a shoegaze song with Phoenix Down. There’s just something about a big wave of reverb washing over you that’s comforting like a warm blanket.