There is a particular richness to The Veils’ music – an expansive, convulsing quality that is part caress, part claw.
Their upcoming fifth album Total Depravity is every bit as cathartic and gut-wrenching as its predecessors, although in markedly different ways. Lead by frontman Finn Andrews, the New Zealand-via-London band has dispensed with melodic hooks and raw tenderness to create a record that is exactly what its title entails: a manic exploration of the nightmarish and macabre.
Co-produced by El-P from Run The Jewels, Total Depravity hums and whirrs with an energy that marks an entirely new sonic territory for the band. Speaking about El-P’s presence on the album, Andrews says, “Initially we just met up for a drink, as we were both in LA at the same time. It just seemed natural to try and make something after that.”
This meeting led to the electronic samples and loops that encircle the album, adding to the unsettling listen with increasingly abrasive ambience. Which, actually, makes you wonder: how will these tracks be recreated live? “We don’t want to use backing tracks, so it’s technically pretty challenging. There’s some very strange, vicious little sounds on this record, so it will be really exciting hearing them for the first time on a big PA.”
These “vicious little sounds” are coupled with menacing themes and characters, like L. Ron Hubbard, Pope John Paul and Steve McQueen, all of whom come alive and wreak havoc in ‘Here Come The Dead’. Regarding his emphasis on storytelling, Andrews says, “I think stories are what I’m in this for ultimately – it’s what I fell in love with first and it continues to fascinate me even when the guitar feels like a very blunt instrument and my voice frustrates me. Stories keep me going in many ways.”
Andrews also says he has always enjoyed writing from somewhat foreign perspectives, and gives examples from earlier songs. “I was an expectant mother on ‘Advice For Young Mothers To Be’, and an evil blackbird on ‘Birds’.” And yet despite the surreal nature of these themes, Andrews argues the songs “still feel deeply personal”.
Total Depravity takes this penchant for vivid and surreal storytelling well beyond the intensity of previous albums Nux Vomica (2006) and Sun Gangs (2009), deeply mining the territory of the religious. At several points throughout the album, Andrews becomes an enraged preacher, shrieking with fury and fear about the Lord, the devil, demons and the dead.
“Most great music obviously has its roots in churches, and I suppose I’ve always had a fascination with religious devotion because in many ways it is so alien to me, and yet I totally understand the impulse. There is also something quite monastic about being a songwriter at times.” These elements are incredibly evident on the record and resonate through the album, as ghostly organ seeps through reverent and repulsed hymns, coalescing with Andrews’ impassioned vocals and raw, jagged guitars.
With The Veils’ last Australian shows riding off the back of Sun Gangs, diehard Aussie fans have no doubt seriously considered crossing the ditch to Andrews’ second home of New Zealand to witness the band’s particular catharsis in the flesh. But there’ll be no need to take a holiday to catch The Veils, as Andrews confirms they will be returning for to our fair shores soon. “[We’re coming] in the new year for sure! Can’t wait,” he says. And with all the dark majesty the record promises, the live show is sure to be a humbling – and exorcising – experience.
Total Depravityby The Veilsis out Friday August 26 through Nettwerk.
