It is the first complete album to be released with a headphone version rendered in THX Spatial Audio, the same technology used in gaming platforms to provide audio that sounds like it's coming from ‘outside your head.’
“We've always been a technically adventurous band, and I think this is just another example of that,” says founder/producer/synth player Paul Robb about how the album simulates the 5.1 environment.
“We like to play around the edges of what's possible in recorded music, and so we are excited to provide our music to our fans with deeper immersion and a 360° soundscape experience provided by THX Spatial Audio.” (The album will also be available in standard stereo).
The band has often incorporated elements of new wave, electropop, freestyle, industrial and darkwave into their music.
“In the band's original incarnation, we were, as all young artists are, heavily influenced by what was going on around us,” Robb explains. “This meant that we were participating in musical (and visual) trends, almost without knowing it. Styles like new wave, electro pop, freestyle, Miami bass, and electro-industrial were the waters we swam in. Nowadays, we aren't part of any new trends, or even aware of them honestly, so we find ourselves exploring and revisiting what has become our own distinctive style, and there's plenty of room to play around there.”
Robb singles out orchestral pop closer "The Mymble's Daughter" as a favorite on the new album.
“We don't often write love songs, but when we do, they are always dedicated to Finnish cartoon characters from the 1950s. Also, ‘Grups’ has a special place for me. Composed exclusively of found lyrics (you guess the source), this one could be thought of as our pandemic song.”
It is customary for INSOC albums to include a cover song as a tribute to an artist they admire. 2014’s _hello world included a cover of Devo’s “Beautiful World”; 1997’s Don’t Be Afraid included Gary Numan’s “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”). Now the new album has a take on "Bennington" by John Maus.
"Ever since I was introduced (belatedly) to John Maus, I've loved his dreamy retro post-vaporwave vibe,” lauds Robb. “It is amazing to me how compelling his music can be, especially since (or maybe because of) his highly constrained style choices and garage sale gear list. Also, he's a Minnesota boy, so there's that.”
Circling back to the conversation about how revolutionary the spatial version of their album is, Robb adds, “I love the roomier sound of the spatial mixes. Kasson Crooker, our collaborator on these mixes, really did a great job of putting the songs into a different, larger space, and I think it really helps you get lost in the music, if that's your thing. When I was an impressionable teenager, the local rock station in Minneapolis had a show at midnight on Fridays called ‘For Headphones Only,' where they would play ‘spacey’ music and Pink Floyd and that kind of stuff, which I was way into at the time. So I think of these as our ‘For Headphones Only’ mixes.”
The current iteration of INSOC comprises founding members Paul Robb on synths, Kurt Larson on vocals and bassist James Cassidy. Zeke Prebluda (aka Falcotronik), who has been performing live with the band since 2009 joined the band as the official fourth member in 2019.
About the unique stylistic spelling of the album title ODDfellows, Robb says, “We just thought it was an appropriate summary of the three longtime members of the group. The initial capitalized letters definitely do not stand for Oppositional Defiant Disorder.”
Tracklisting:
Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds
Would You Like Me If I Played A Guitar
World Enough
Room 1904
Nothing Prevails
Being Me
Bennington
Down in Flames
Grups
The Mymble's Daughter
World Enough
Room 1904
Nothing Prevails
Being Me
Bennington
Down in Flames
Grups
The Mymble's Daughter
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