Euroboy’s Doortje Hiddema (Real Derek, Rats on Rafts) and Alicia Breton Ferrer (The Sweet Release Of Death, Neighbours Burning Neighbours) have announced a collaborative LP called Sacrificial Chanting Mood. Its debut single “Reading Glasses” unfolds like a storm inside an hourglass: an exercise of pointy-edged dream punk that builds up momentum with increasingly intensifying bursts of guitar noise and taut, rumbling basslines.
There is nevertheless a swagger and playfulness permeating through, as Hiddema and Breton Ferrer exchange inner monologues with a dadaïst charm. “Reading Glasses” in particular was inspired by exchanging a mutual love for the novel Adoring Louis Claus (‘Het aanbidden van Louis Claus’) by Dutch writer Helena Hoogenkamp.
“The book was written in such a light, beautiful but also tragic fashion,” Hiddema comments. “It depicts a very relatable everyday sadness.” The Sacrificial Chanting Mood-project was originally meant to be a one-time 7-inch collaboration, but as the two artists kept exchanging ideas, songs about “offline gloom in a digital sphere, chosen isolation, mental self-care, and Spice Girls” started manifesting. Bigger themes are explored with prankish inquisition: one song, “User ID”, has lyrics constructed from a cut-up of spam emails, and another track “Memento Mori” was composed of abstract vocal drones.
Listen to “Reading Glasses” below and find it on Spotify.
Preorder Sacrificial Chanting Mood here. It will be released on Glove Compartment in September 2022, though no specific dates are revealed yet.
