In many ways, BRUIT ≤ are carrying the torch for the global instrumental post-rock scene that thrived a decade or so ago. There’s something of Battles’ experimental impishness about their brand of atmospheric post-metal compositions, though more modern yet is the philosophy that underlies their lyricless songs. On “Data,” the second cut to be released from their forthcoming second album The Age of Ephemerality, that focus turns to the handful of individuals who currently make being on the internet more of a nightmare everyday, with the familiar nasal-jackass inflection of Mark Zuckerberg even interrupting the proceedings midway through the furious eight minutes of digital-era post-rock.
“‘Data’ explores the problem of mass surveillance and globalized manipulation through the digitization of everything,” the French quartet explains before elucidating on the clash of old- and new-world ideas explored on the single. “Driven by an urgent drum and bass beat, the track confronts electronic elements, electric guitar, and cello, with a brass ensemble and bicentennial organ, diluting what is organic and what’s not. Through this process, we tried to illustrate the confusion we feel every day when faced with fake news, AI-generated content, or targeted advertising. What’s still social about our network? What’s still organic about our relationship with the world?”
The track’s music video does a great job of illustrating these points, landing as it does somewhere between a fourth Qatsi installment and the subliminal messaging of The Parallax View’s propaganda tape redone for the age of AI. Check it out below, and don’t bother looking for the track on Spotify. I think the band makes their stance on that platform pretty clear in the video.
