Image by Charlie Hardy //
dust take a break from blowing away people’s haircuts in Europe to drop ‘New High’.
Currently gearing up to play Alexandra Palace as a support act for Interpol, dust’s past year or so has seen them continue to poke and prod at the mainstream while retaining a signature sound that is raw and subversive. With much-hyped SXSW performances and a musician’s-musicians status, it feels like only a matter of moments before the Newcastle band reaches heights that are normally reserved for more “user-friendly” music.
‘New High’ sounds like the introverted cousin of the previous release ‘Trust U See.’ Where the earlier single was experimental and chaotic, ‘New High’ is measured and, despite the delightfully noisy trimmings, structurally sound. The sax-led breakdowns are so lush and euphoric it’s like liquid gold getting poured into your earholes, but by far the coolest part of the song is the guttural bass tones of the “waste my time alone” bridge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FfLklrmE9g
“It’s about those nights spent lying in a room illuminated by fairy lights, listening to dreamy music like Beach House or watching the movie Her and feeling a deep sense of melancholy,” says guitarist-vocalist Justin Teale. “Shifting between the warmth of solitude and the desire to move past the more painful aspects of isolation, it’s a reflection of both the comfort and complexity that come with being alone.”
The major irony of this song about being isolated and alone is that when you’re listening to it, it’s hard not to imagine what it would sound like live in a packed-out club somewhere, surrounded by bodies as the band envelops us with their multi-dimensional sounds.
The video, directed by frequent collaborator Nikola Jokanovic, furthers the outsider lore of dust, as the group roams the streets of Newcastle on pushbikes with a washed green light infiltrating each shot. Like the track, it’s this blurry art piece that sucks you right in and doesn’t let go.Watch our premiere above and buy/stream ‘New High’ right here.
