After the fairly quick one-two punch of Fuck Buttons’ first two albums, 2008’s Street Horrrsing and 2009’s Tarot Sport, the duo went quiet for a while, releasing a few things here and there under different names. Although they never announced a split, we never knew when they would return.
Now we do: July 23rd will see the release of their third album Slow Focus on ATP Recordings. The wait will surely have been worth it if this new album, the first they’ve self-produced, is as original and mind melting as their first two.
Speaking about the sound of the album and how it refers to the title, Benjamin Power says “Slow Focus seemed like a very apt title when considering the sentiment of the music. It almost feels like the moment your eyes take to readjust when waking, and realising you’re in a very unusual and not a particularly welcoming place. We like to think that we create our own new landscapes, and with this it’s a very alien one.”
On the decision not to use an external producer this time around, his partner Jason Hung says “We’ve used producers as safety nets in the past, but we’ve always had a very specific idea of what our music should sound like and so it became about following the logical path.”
Their golden rule of always being in the same room when composing their music was adhered to once again, and is said to give the album a “more close-up [feeling] than ever before, a first-person view through winding pathways set against a frequently aggressive and constantly evolving terrain.”
The duo have some festival dates announced, where viewers will get a first taste of Slow Focus. You can see those dates at the bottom of this post, beneath the album’s track listing.
Slow Focus track list:
1.Brainfreeze
2.Year Of The Dog
3.The Red Wing
4.Sentients
5.Prince’s Prize
6.Stalker
7.Hidden XS
Tour dates:
5/23 – Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, ES
5/31 – Optimus Primavera Sound Festival, Porto, PT
6/21 – Best Kept Secret Festival, Hilvarenbeek, NL
6/22 – Body & Soul Festival, Ballinlough Castle, Co Westmeath, IRL
6/28 – Glastonbury Festival, Worthy Farm, Pilton UK
8/15-8/18 – Greenman Festival, Black Mountains, Wales
8/31 – ArcTangent Festival, Fernhill Farm, Compton Martin, Bristol, UK
10/26 – Release The Bats, Melbourne, AU
