Banks Arcade Announce New EP A Muse & Release New Single, Heartstop
Evolving from the darker sides explored on their recent DEATH 2 EP, released in February, A Muse finds the New Zealand-hailing, Melbourne-based quartet shedding the expected and instead flourishing between moments of searing rock, towering hooks, dance beats, and fresh explorations into heavy surrounds.
A deeply personal extension of the chaos and sonic metamorphosis of DEATH 2, today's announcement of A Muse is also accompanied by the brand new single "Heartstop" — a swaggering, guitar-driven breakup anthem balanced with audacious grit and potent gloss, with the track premiering on New Zealand's #1 rock station The Rock.
"'Heartstop' is a sassy breakup rock anthem. It’s got a bit of 'f**k you' to it, but really it's just a fun song that was made to make people dance and forget about that asshole that broke their heart."
- the band shares
Offering a memorable companion to their recent new single "Self Help," also taken from the forthcoming A Muse EP, Heartstop readily wears its heart on its sleeve with infectious abandon, with vocalist Joshua O'Donnell powerfully declaring, "I like the way that I move / When I'm not hung up on you," alongside a sauntering chorus backdrop. And it's this very notion of strength in vulnerability that carries throughout A Muse, from the vehement urgency of opening track "Alive" through to the moody ferocity of "No Future" and beyond.
"A Muse follows on from DEATH 2 in a much more vulnerable way. It covers a lot of personal issues from relationships to internal struggles and in each song I tried to speak with my own voice as much as possible as opposed to the more abstract stuff on DEATH 2."
- the band says
Via DEATH 2, Banks Arcade didn't merely build on their previously-established trademark sound; rather, it catapulted their heady blend of hard rock, electronic, and metal into an entirely new sonic stratosphere, while also expressing the darkest and heaviest side of the quartet to date.
A Muse will release everywhere June 28th
