Future Cavemen will continue their ascent this spring with the confirmation of a new EP: ‘II’, which will be released on March 25, 2022 via the Tough Candy imprint.
Marking a vital next step in his evolution, Bath-based solo artist AKA Joe Tennant teases the release with his captivating debut single: ‘Gypsy Curse’.
Shouldering a cool, leather-clad Dandy Warhols-style vortex synthesizer straight out of a retro arcade game that Grandaddy would surely approve of, “Gypsy Curse” is a haunting cut of alt-rock that’ll have you hooked from the get-go.
Written in a flatshare on an unassuming London estate, it would be the chance acquisition of a vintage synthesizer from a stranger on GumTree that would take “Gypsy Curse” out of its monotonous setting and turn it into something otherworldly. As Tennant says:
“Lyrically, it’s part autobiographical, part truth, part fiction… I had just bought a vintage synth (my first synth) from a middle-aged man on Gumtree – it seemed like a good deal. I remember taking it home on the bus, it was extremely bulky.”
Self-produced by Future Cavemen, “Gypsy Curse” was recorded, mixed and mastered by Kristofer Harris (Belle & Sebastian, Indoor Pets) at Squarehead Studios in Kent, alongside a suite of four new songs that make up his ambitious new EP. : ‘II’ .
Quickly following 2021’s acclaimed debut release ‘I’, the aptly titled ‘II’ finds the singer-songwriter and producer growing in stature and exploring new sonic territory. Largely written in London when the singer suddenly found himself out of his musical work and in search of a new creative identity, Future Cavemen recalls:
“I had just left the garage rock band I was in and was transitioning to computer recording software. I was beginning to experiment with electronic sounds, trying (unsuccessfully) to move away from rock .”
Crafting a new sound and identity over the next 8 years, the music that would belong to the Future Cavemen name would see Tennant jamming an eclectic array of influences and sounds across the decades; transforming them into something mutant, seductive and original. Drawing inspiration from catalogs from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds to Dandy Warhols, QOTSA to Dick Dale, while striving to explore sounds and technology far beyond his comfort zone; the fruits of his labors are not more vividly realized than in his last collection.
From the slow-burning spaghetti western-inspired jams that conspired in the shadows of the capital’s churches in the middle of the night (“Diggin”), to the venomous sting of “Poison Flower” and its dizzying fusion of dark soul rock desert with radioactive 8-bit synths; the EP closes with Wizard of Oz-inspired “Under Rainbows,” its distorted Beatles-y psychedelia taking the listener firmly out of Kansas and into a strange new world we could never have imagined.
With “Gypsy Curse” available on all streaming platforms now, expect more news and releases from Future Cavemen in the weeks to come.
Listen to the new single here:
