19-12-2023
“You yearn for pleasures of the feast”

Shrieking guitars, pounding bass and distorted synths. Available on YouTube in its full chaotic glory, E-Majesty, the latest creation of Dutch synth wave act Angels Are Near. The song is a forerunner to the band’s upcoming debut album which will be released in 2024.

The dense layered E-Majesty pays sonic homage to the ’90s alternative’ of PJ Harvey, Placebo and NIN. “A lot of interesting things were happening back then, especially at the periphery. It was for instance ok to deliberately make things sound ugly or distorted. A stark contrast to the polished sound of the 80s”, says Van Spall. He continues: “2023 can use a bit of that. So I thought, let’s not clean this one up too much and keep some of that random and static noises. Bring a bit of the 90s to the now.”

Talking about the now. Lyrically E-majesty takes its inspiration from the post Covid Berlin techno scene. “Having lived in Berlin for a while I can tell you, there is no escaping that scene. One way or another you’ll get sucked into it. It’s an alternative reality of love and free expression, without judgement. Who doesn’t like that? Who doesn’t want more of that? The irony is of course that each step towards more pleasure is often also a step towards spiritual discomfort. The queen that is FOMO rules hard over there and her majesty demands to be served… I tried putting that into the song.”

On the 2022 Angels Are Near EP Van Spall already sang: “we all seem to crave for more of what we already have”. E-Majesty seems to explore similar territory. Van Spall: “Yeah, I noticed it’s a recurring theme in my writing these days; when is enough, enough? There’s a song called Gratify + Satisfy on the upcoming album that also touches on that. I think it’s one of the valid questions of the era we live in. On the other hand it might just be my subconscious trying to tell me something.”

Personnel

music written by Brandon van Spall
lyrics written by William Byron and Brandon van Spall

Brandon van Spall: Guitars, synths, sequencers, drumcomputer and vocals
Fimke Duursma: Bass guitar
Rob Peters: Additional production, mixing and mastering

Picture by Rebelinda