Over the course of the last two decades,\u00a0Xiu Xiu\u2019s prolific and influential output of acclaimed albums and collaborations has been consistently dazzling. They\u2019ve released 17 full-length LPs that have been praised in outlets such as The New Yorker, The Wire, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Quietus and many others. They have toured the globe relentlessly, performing in places as far off the beaten path as Kazakhstan and Lebanon and places institutionally vital as the Guggenheim and Centre Pompidou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xiu <\/strong>Xiu\u00a0shares a dual single release for the songs\u00a0Arp Omni<\/em>,\u00a0a swelling, textural string-filled ballad, and the jolting, maximalist, industrial prog-pop banger\u00a0Veneficium<\/em>.\u00a0Both songs appear on the new album\u00a0\u201813″ Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips,\u2019 due for release\u00a0September 27th\u00a0via\u00a0Polyvinyl<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On\u00a0\u201813″ Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips,\u2019 Angela Seo, David Kendrick and Jamie Stewart deliver some of the band\u2019s most compelling and mesmerising music to date. Mixed by\u00a0John Congleton\u00a0(Chelsea Wolfe, Lana Del Rey) this album is unlike anything the band has ever recorded previously and was motivated by the destruction of previous aesthetic notions, as well as the band’s recent move from Los Angeles to Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Xiu Xiu, Arp Omni<\/em> is\u00a0\u201cA little sweetie ballad about falling for a person who takes risks in life,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0while Veneficium<\/em> is about\u00a0\u201cBeing lost; literally lost, emotionally lost, lost in a smashed psychological dimension beyond your control, being overwhelmed by the weight of one\u2019s insignificance in the face of time, space and death, and pointlessly railing against what does not notice let alone care about you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The release of the two songs is accompanied by visuals, including a beautiful\u00a0visualiser<\/a>\u00a0for Arp Omni <\/em>directed by\u00a0Lin You, and a thrilling, visually stunning allegorical\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0for Veneficium<\/em> directed by\u00a0Luke Orlando, bookended by cameos from Xiu Xiu\u2019s Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo as \u201cToast Masters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jamie Stewart shares: “A Veneficium is an instance of being poisoned or the preparation of magic potions or the substances that make up a poison. The point of any involvement with said substances or pursuits is at best meddling with risky and significant transformation and at worst taunting the nefarious, even up to the point of death. Either way, what lies in wait on the path to these in between and far away places from our present world is dangerous and unsettling and unknown. But perhaps also and why not, it could be being turned into a psychedelic BDSM train or the inspiration to benevolent and anonymous used toast and toaster delivery.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Director Luke Orlando shares: “On the conceptual level, I wanted to make something about the absurdity and complexity of how we connect with each other in the modern world. It started off as a critique of doomscrolling, but Xiu Xiu pushed and enabled me to make it more esoteric and interesting at every turn. Where we ended up is a much more positive spin on finding community by openly sharing your interests with the world. In the end it became a very ideal art project – I found myself working with some of my best friends to hand-paint toast, fabricate a bespoke costume, and create a unique logic inspired by the occult for the world in this video. Videos like this don\u2019t happen often because artists\/directors are rarely given the freedom to create without inhibition, and for that I thank Xiu Xiu and everyone at Polyvinyl for letting me go off.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen<\/a>\u00a0to Arp Omni<\/em> |\u00a0Watch\u00a0Veneficium<\/em> via YouTube below<\/p>\n\n\n\n