Ascending Yorkshire noise-merchants – FERAL FAMILY – let loose on their latest single “Smother”, arriving ahead of their debut EP ‘PLAYTEST’ (due 19 May).
A seesawing track that simmers with an apocalyptic sense of angst, “Smother” sees twangy, melodic guitars and clanging, industrial drums caught in a dogfight with roaring and rampageous vocals.
Blending doomy post-punk sensibilities reminiscent of the likes of Fontaines D.C. or IDLES with colossal choruses that recall the enormous indie-rock of Foals, the new track unfurls like a twisted barrage of thoughts set free from an increasingly conflicted brain.
With a calamitous atmosphere reminiscent of the feeling of drowning in your own head, vocalist Jamie explains of the track:
“”Smother” is about thinking on the decisions you’ve made in life… whether or not you have taken the right paths — be it lovers, addictions, friendships etc. It’s like an internal monologue that focuses heavily on the negative sides of those experiences: would we have been better off without that person? Or not doing or saying certain things? What are the repercussions that haunt us? “Smother” is about the overthinking we hide from others: an homage to our own mistakes and insecurities.”
Produced, mixed and mastered by Liam Radburn at Magic Garden Studios in Wolverhampton, “Smother” is the closing track from Feral Family’s debut EP ‘PLAYTEST’. Set for release on 19 May, the EP will be available digitally across all platforms.
A dark, brooding collection of songs that melds the gothic with the euphoric and is destined to haunt the imagination, full tracklisting is as follows:
‘PLAYTEST’ EP TRACKLIST
Fractured
Wee Van Bee
Cairo
Spice King
Smother
*****
As their name suggests, Feral Family are hungry and relentless: it’s in their DNA. Quietly simmering away in the seaside town of Bridlington on the East Coast of Yorkshire, their music has been hailed as “a perfect blend of haunting vocals mixed with an in-your-face sound akin to Foals” by BBC Introducing.
Previous singles “Wee Van Bee” and “Fractured” have charted at #3 and #1 respectively in the iTunes Rock Chart, and gained airplay on Amazing Radio, Total Rock and more. Recent release “Spice King” was featured on The Independent’s ‘Now Hear This’ playlist, received airplay on BBC Introducing Humberside and attracted praise from a range of tastemaker blogs including God Is In The TV, Soundsphere Magazine and Flare Music with the latter enthusing: “It’s bloody hard to release something that feels authentically new these days, but “Spice King” is a catastrophically raw form of originality. Unfathomably strong.”
Bottling the lightning of their mesmeric live performance in the studio, Feral Family are wildly independent and utterly driven with a raison d’être to become known as the UK’s most crucial live band.
-Official bio
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