TV Priest released their incendiary debut album Uppers back in February, but they’ve got plenty more material in their locker, the first of which gets unveiled today. “Lifesize” is their offering to Sub Pop’s Singles Club Vol. 6, and singer Charlie Drinkwater says:
“‘Lifesize’ is about the worship of the ‘strong man’ image often present in our political and cultural discourse. One where the patriarchal underpinnings of our society and political structure goes unchallenged. After a particularly grueling year, when people have looked to leaders for strength, we’ve found instead empty gestures and contempt. (‘Talk like a salesman, walks like the Pope.’) We don’t need more macho bravado; society needs empathy and compassion.”
Driven by pounding propulsion, “Lifesize” is a menacing track that places Drinkwater as a disaffected narrator of modern life, observing “the hero” who takes up the archetypal macho, ebullient figure of a classic ‘leader of men’. The guitar crackling and whining intimidatingly around the outskirts of “Lifesize” emphasises the fire in Drinkwater’s belly and eyes, which steadily grows in rage as he watches this pompous shit-peddler go about his smarmy business. TV Priest’s thorny interplay of guitar and rhythm feel like Drinkwater’s skin crawling and stomach lurching in sickness, and his voice makes this clear, rasping “justice is cruelty in another language / and wisdom is fear”. It’s a glowing pyre of a track that is fuelled by the disgust of thousands of a similar mind to TV Priest, gradually building up to become even bigger than the target of “Lifesize” – letting them know that their days of supreme confidence are numbered.
Watch the visualizer for “Lifesize” below or find it on streaming platforms.
TV Priest are touring in support of Uppers, catch them here:
Fri. Oct. 01 – Ipswich, UK – Ipswich Sound City
Sat. Oct. 09 – Reading, UK – Are You Listening
Tue. Oct. 19 – London, UK – Shacklewell Arms [Sold Out]
Thu. Oct. 21- Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hound
Fri. Oct. 22 – Blackpool, UK – Bootleg Social
Sat. Oct. 23 – Hull, UK – New Adelphi Club
Sun. Oct. 24 – Newcastle upon Tyne, UK – Head of Steam
Tue. Oct. 26 – Nottingham, UK – Bodega
Wed. Oct. 27 – Cardiff, Wales, UK – Clwb Ifor Bach (Upstairs room)
Thu. Oct. 28 – Bedford, UK – Bedford Esquires
Fri. Oct. 29 – Manchester, UK – YES (Basement Room) [Sold Out]
Sat. Oct. 30 – Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall [Sold Out]
Sun. Oct. 31 – Sheffield, UK – Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield City Centre
Tue. Nov. 02 – Bristol, UK – Rough Trade (Bristol) [Sold Out]
Wed. Nov. 03 – London, UK – Moth Club [Sold Out]
Thu. Nov. 04 – Southampton, UK – Heartbreakers
Sat. Nov. 06 – Brighton, UK – Mutations Festival
Sat. Nov. 13 – Glasgow, UK – Sirens Festival (Glasgow)
Sun. Nov. 14 – Edinburgh, UK – Sirens Festival (Edinburgh)
Wed. Nov. 17 – Lille, FR – L’Aeronef
Thu. Nov. 18 – Le Havre, FR – Le Tetris
Fri. Nov. 19 – Paris, FR – Pitchfork Music Festival
Sat. Nov. 20 – Nantes, FR – Stereolux
