|
Today, with the release of arena-ready new single "Anxious To Please," accompanied by an absurd, alienesque VR video, Eric Slick gives listeners their latest rush of New Age Rage. Out April 26th via Slick Records/Thirty Tigers, the new album is a dance-rock opus that tackles both the broad, harrowing downfall of humankind's dystopian and tech-driven future, as well as the more internal issues of seeking perfection, living in the moment and simply being understood. After nearly 15 years drumming for Dr. Dog, recording and performing with Kevin Morby, Taylor Swift, The War on Drugs, Waxahatchee and more, scoring Hilary Swank's latest film and releasing solo records hailed as "a crackpot singer-songwriter fantasy" (Rolling Stone), New Age Rage is simultaneously the most ambitious departure of Slick's career, and the most fully himself he has ever sounded as a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Equal parts meticulous and masterfully crafted, hilarious and unhinged, provocative and productive, Eric Slick uncovers emotional truths through uncompromising experimentation, and "Anxious To Please" is about the journey it took to arrive at this point of personal actualization.
Listen to "Anxious To Please," and watch the 360-degree virtual reality video animated & directed by Michael Chadwick, best experienced on the YouTube app or on the Oculus: HERE
"I wrote 'Anxious To Please' backstage at a Waxahatchee show at the Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA. The sentiment of the song is straightforward. Everybody in my life knows I suffer from the 'people-pleaser' archetype – it's part of being a side musician: you must be agreeable and down to play whatever you're told. Making this record, I realized I need to shed this part of my personality, and the song is my manifesto of trying to break out of that cycle and be accepted for who I really am. I wanted to write a big arena rock tune for the record, and I'm so glad we finally got there. I was really inspired by The The, The Stranglers, David Sylvian, and the darker side of '80s synth-pop. When it came time to make the video, I immediately thought of doing something unusual, so I hit up my friend Michael Chadwick and told him Max Headroom meets the video game DOOM. We added some extremely buff men and some aliens dancing. I hope it gives you nightmares!"
-Eric Slick
As Eric Slick, extraterrestrials and Speedo-clad body builders all dance on a feverish array of floating platforms, "Anxious To Please" erupts in a soaring, brooding chorus. The cathartic track is a counterpart to previous single and wild video "Lose Our Minds," a dance-party for the apocalypse that Slick co-wrote with his wife Natalie Prass. It delivered a conceptual reinterpretation of Prince's "1999" that "pulls no punches…pushing his patent brand of brutal realism versus pop-perfect arrangement to new levels" (Relix). Like most all of New Age Rage, "Anxious To Please" is a collaboration with producer Andy Molholt (Speedy Ortiz) and co-writer Kyle Ryan (Kacey Musgraves), filled with an array of sonic gems, tricks and treats – an acoustic guitar that Slick ran through his Moog Grandmother synth, a drum beat and big fills constructed with his own drum sample pack, plus bass and vocal harmonies from Erica Shafer of King Tuff and Pearl & The Oysters.
Across the rest of New Age Rage, his first album since 2020's Wiseacre, Eric Slick confronts the dangers of artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, mass media manipulation, social media time-sucks and the climate crisis through a collection of rapturous rock music, robot-funk, sleazy disco, and experimental synth-pop, inspired by life-long idols like Carla Bley, Haruomi Hosono, Sparks, Talking Heads, Yellow Magic Orchestra and more. The record also features artwork by EYヨ, of Japanese band BOREDOMS, contributions from a bevy of friends and fellow musicians including Diane Coffee, Finom (fka OHMME), Liam Kazar, mmeadows, VV Lightbody, Kimaya Diggs, members of Butcher Brown, Deep Sea Diver and many more.
New Age Rage is the record that Eric Slick has always wanted to make, helping him advocate for himself in ways he never thought was possible. Alongside the album release, he and his band will present the music at a series of theatrical, experiential shows from coast to coast this April and May. Find the list of tour dates below and tickets at ericslick.com.
|
