WATCH AND SHARE “INTERFACE” HERE
NEW ALBUM AFTERTOUCH OUT SEPT 24 VIA BOILED RECORDS
PREORDER AFTERTOUCH HERE
“It's a pathway to another dimension” - Clash
“Deep-space cosmic-rock odyssey that they’ll be blasting on Orion” – Pitchfork
“Full of groovy motorik rhythms and reverb-soaked hooks”–Rolling Stone
“A fresh reintroduction to the group's motorik-driven psychedelia, with rave-y synth breakdowns” – FADER
“The musical equivalent of colouring outside the lines” - CBC Music
Photo Credit: Darren Rigo // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Absolutely Free moves one step closer into digital arcadia with “Interface”, the second prismatic excerpt from the long-anticipated sophomore album, Aftertouch, out September 24, 2021 via Boiled Records.
Absolutely Free has cultivated a decade-long reputation for an unorthodox approach to both conceiving and performing music. The Toronto psychedelic pop trio’s Polaris Music Prize nominated debut was hailed as “breathtakingly beautiful” (Stereogum) and a “deep-space cosmic-rock odyssey” (Pitchfork) upon its 2014 release. Following an array of multimedia projects and releases, including 2019’s Geneva Freeport EP (featuring U.S. Girls’ Meg Remy), the band recently announced its much-anticipated sophomore album, Aftertouch, with that “flying wedge of art pop” (Brooklyn Vegan), first single “How To Paint Clouds”.
The album’s second single, “Interface” is a peek further into the kaleidoscopic minds of Absolutely Free, accompanied by a visual drench in vibrant neon palettes and retro-futuristic tendencies by Australian artist Benjamin Portas.
“Written as a pseudo-love song that interludes between two versions of self, Interface recalls an adolescent summer where I spent every waking hour on early web-based chat programs, instead of going outside,” says singer Matt King. ”Typical coming-of-age feelings of loss and confusion were further conflated by prioritizing an emerging potential of a new virtual identity more ‘real’ than a physical self.”
WATCH AND SHARE “INTERFACE” HERE
“Interface” Single Art // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Lifted from the forthcoming second album Aftertouch, “Interface” is a maximal psychedelic blast awash in synthesizers and radiant melody, about hyperconnectivity and the preservation of individuality for a generation coming of age in a wild time.
Running free with flourishes of experimentation, yet rooted in accessible melody and rhythm, Absolutely Free blurs boundaries between avant-garde and pop across the album’s eight songs. A tug-of-war within its sonic harmony, Aftertouch explores narratives of hegemony, grief, and exploitation in the present while ultimately sustaining curiosity for the unknown “post-everything” future. Making reference to the name of a synthesizer function, Aftertouch deconstructs seismic shifts in contemporary culture and lingers in the echoing sensations that remain.
WATCH / LISTEN TO “HOW TO PAINT CLOUDS”
Known for their varying multi-instrumentalist approaches and experimental live performances, Absolutely Free “wanted to create an album that wasn’t bound by a physical ability to perform it live, to not only expand our palette, but also to consider the live performance as something completely separate.” Shifting in the liminal space between analogue and digital sounds, real and fabricated images, revelling in and refuting the loss of tactility, Absolutely Free is able to create vibrations of physical tension and emotional resonance.
Produced by Jorge Elbrecht, who has shaped the sound of releases by No Joy, Gang Gang Dance, Japanese Breakfast, and his own bands Lansing-Dreiden and Violens, Aftertouch is dense with ideas but balanced by precise decisions. Culling from a myriad of influences that span Krautrock, New Wave, the proliferation of international Psychedelic and Funk Compilations, and early forms of electronic dance music, Absolutely Free has created a patina of disparate but harmonic styles distinctly its own. Resolute guitar strokes ring out like a call to prayer on the previously released “Still Life” as the band questions our traditional understandings of societal progress and an optimistic future.
Comprised of the core trio of Matt King (vocals/multi-instrumentalist), Michael Claxton (bass/synth), and Moshe Fisher-Rozenberg (drums/synth), Absolutely Free is an offshoot of the now-defunct experimental rock outfit DD/MM/YYYY, whose multi-rhythmic boundary-pushing raison d'être provided a springboard for the open skyline on which Absolutely Free now creates. The band’s Polaris-nominated 2014 debut album Absolutely Free., released via Arts & Crafts/Fat Possum Records garnered international acclaim from Pitchfork, FADER, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Exclaim!, Under The Radar, Pop Matters, AllMusic, many more. Absolutely Free have toured alongside Alvvays, Youth Lagoon, and Preoccupations and have shared bills with Beak>, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, U.S. Girls, and Fucked Up.
