The latest single from Welsh noise-punks Nerves sounds like an industrial exorcism, one designed to excoriate and explore the bitter consequences of questionable decisions. “Dirty Fingers” finds the band working with producer (and bassist of Gilla Band) Daniel Fox, once again teaming up after their time together creating the band’s 2024 EP Glórach. The track, a blistering bit of emotional wreckage, is framed by scorched vocals and apocalyptic rhythms. It sounds like the end of the world, complete with smoldering ruins and the cries of those who survived, and maybe the faint promise of a distant salvation.
“With ‘Dirty Fingers’ we wanted to come out of the gates with something that was fast, intense and sonically overwhelming,” says frontman Kyle Thornton. “We feel that our first EP was the sound of the band finally hitting upon a sound and style that we could move forward with, and this next batch of music coming this year is us doubling down on every aspect of our sound. ‘Dirty Fingers’ is the abrasive, danceable and industrial side of this band taken to its extreme, with the added vulnerability of starting a tune with just vocals, something which freaked me out enough at the time that I knew it was probably a good idea.”
The accompanying video was directed by the band’s bassist Ryan Mortell, who says, “I wanted to explore this idea that the open, barren landscape of Ireland in itself plays a character, almost engulfing everything within it. Dense forest, abandoned stone towers and hillsides stripped bare by the elements all culminate to create this almost ethereal purgatory that our character traverses.“
He continues: “Ultimately, the video is about questioning if you can truly ever leave your home, or will there always be a part of you left behind? What demons will pursue you in order for you to accept that home is truly where your heart lies? It’s a fundamental Irish question that we all find ourselves asking in an age of mass emigration.“
Watch the video below.
