SULFATE | BAND
Feral, devolved and running on instinct, the six songs on Sulfate’s third album ‘And It Wants’ grapple between David Harris unleashing on his drum kit, Zac Arnold conjuring fuzz and feedback and Peter Ruddell’s taut, wiry guitar-work and commanding baritone. Written and recorded in New Lynn’s industrial area, this new batch of songs were created on a diet of Cormac McCarthy novels, Adam Curtis documentaries and the madness of gothic horror.
“The writing of And It Wants was essentially starting a new band” notes Peter. “It was a clean slate after a long break - with two major changes: Zac Arnold joining on bass guitar, and me moving from an overly elaborate keyboard setup to an electric guitar with as few pedals as possible. When starting Wax Chattels, I felt that if I kept the instrumentation simple it would force the band to push the songs further - make the structures and arrangements more interesting - rather than getting trapped in the tone-zone. I think this had the same effect on And It Wants, and we really dig in with these songs. Zac’s inclusion in the group has had a significant impact on the group as a whole, much in the same way Hariet Ellis impacted Godzone (2021, Flying Nun). The way Zac plays bass isn’t like anyone else - he creates walls of noise, which we embraced wholeheartedly on this new record, and his wealth of music knowledge provided great context and guidance as we were in the writing stages.”
Thematically ‘And It Wants’ sees Ruddell clinging to optimism & joy while being subject to the existential nihilism of our current hypernormal, western reality. “Death is all through this record. The songs were born out of the feeling that there are no rules, that nothing matters, and that we all die. That we dance around the fact that death comes for us all, but we never really, truly, acknowledge it - it’s just too big or too heavy to have any kind of impact on our day to day existence. The intent is to provide a sonic backdrop to dance ecstatically, liberated, as the world around you burns. Find comfort and joy in things while you can, even as the end draws near and darkness begins to ruminate.
‘And It Wants’ was recorded at West Fried Sound by Emily Wheatcroft-Snape, with additional recording at Sulfate Studios by Peter Ruddell. Mixed by Ruddell, the album was then mastered by Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control). Since recording, Sulfate's line up has expanded once more, introducing multi-instrumentalist Louisa Nicklin to the band's inexorable live performances.
