Just where has Phoebe Rings’ Aseurai universe taken them next?
The Auckland dream-pop band has dropped a new track today inspired by The Matrix, complete with a homemade retro video game clip.
This smooth, disco-fueled “Get Up” also marks the first time bassist Benjamin Locke takes the mic. Locke explains, “This was written in a period where I was listening to a lot of disco, particularly Nile Rodgers productions (Chic, Sister Sledge). Around a similar time I rewatched The Matrix. In the opening scene, Trinity is being chased by agents and says to herself ‘Get up Trinity, just get up.’
“I thought the notion of willing yourself to get up could be interesting to play around with and that scene stuck with me for a bit. In older disco tracks there is often this imperative language (‘Everybody Dance!,’ ‘Leave your cares behind’) – ‘Get up, just get up’ just kind of fell into place. We gave it a pretty comprehensive disco treatment with lots of strings, bvs and a searing Arp solo.”
“Get Up” follows the release of “Aseurai” and “Drifting’” in March, both from their upcoming debut album Aseurai, due June 6.
Accompanying the single is a visualiser created by Locke, who also built Phoebe Rings’ Starfall game. Using Blender, Locke crafted low-poly animation inspired by early PlayStation and Nintendo 64 games. “The original model that I used was based on Fox Mulder from X-files,” he says. “I adapted this model to create each individual band member. The idea of driving away from the city and into the dark spoke to ideas in the song of physical movement, mental health and transition between two states. The characters are confidently driving into the night, facing it head on.”
Phoebe Rings’ upcoming album Aseurai marks the first time the entire band – Locke, Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent (guitar/synth), Alex Freer (drums/production), and band leader Crystal Choi (a former jazz school student, check out her INTROS episode here) contributed to the songwriting. Choi says, “I feel more precious about this LP because it includes everyone’s gems. The broth is richer with more cooks in the kitchen, and the brewing of textures creates a distinct ‘Phoebe Rings’ sound.”
The album blends disco, city-pop, and dream-pop, with Aseurai translating to “around you in the atmosphere, hard to reach, fading away.” Choi explains, “It’s a poetic expression you wouldn’t use in normal conversation, but I like that.”
Aseurai will be released on June 6th via Carpark Records, who reissued their 2021 self-titled EP late last year.
Phoebe Rings impressed at Rolling Stone House at SXSW Sydney before embarking on a national tour in Aotearoa.
Ahead of their Rolling Stone House performance, Choi had lots of praise for her bandmates.
“[…] what I feel particularly lucky about this band is that we’re all songwriters. I think our playing reflects that: I can hear that everyone thinks about how to make the whole song sound great rather than their own playing, whether it’s guitar tone, bassline, drum fills, or synth sounds,” she told us. “We also realised that our taste matches really well and what each one brings to the band makes the band into something we like better and better.”
Phoebe Rings’ “Get Up” is out now. Aseurai is out June 6th via Carpark Records (pre-order here).
