In a move that has surprised anyone familiar with the band, Preatures guitarist Gideon Bensen has announced plans to release an 80s influenced new wave/soul album. Putting his rock and roll tendencies to the side for the moment, Bensen has spent the little downtime he's had between tours to experiment with beat making and new styles of song writing.Citing Kendrick Lamar and Flying Lotus as primary influences on this new direction, the project has quickly taken over any downtime that Bensen has between his work with The Preatures. And while we won't see this leather-clad rocker spitting rhymes any time soon, those influences are nevertheless clear in “All New Low”, Bensen's first single from this new solo project.The video for the single is an appropriately 80s affair, with neon dancers, laser wireframes and static TV noise interspersed between Bensen's rock and roll swagger. It's all with tongue firmly in cheek though; the playfulness of 80s new wave coming through not only in the music but the visuals as well.Noisey had a chat with Gideon about his hair, his music and the new video.Noisey: Has anyone complimented you on how cool your hair looks in a silhouette profile?
Gideon Bensen: Haha…It’s funny you ask that. I thought about cutting it all off recently. I guess I better keep it now.My initial thought on the video was a cross between Suicide and George Michael. Was there anything or anyone that inspired “All New Low”?
Director Sarah Adamson and I both agreed that it should emphasise the tracks repetition. I thought it was a great opportunity to bring out the tongue and cheek humour in the track as well. I was inspired by Talking Heads as well as Kubrick’s A Space Odyssey for the colour treatment in a lot of shots.I like the spew and guitar solo. Is there much guitar on the new album or is it more electronic?
That’s one of my favourite moments in the clip too. There is a significant amount of guitar on the record, but a stronger electronic focus. I was listening to a lot of Echo and the Bunnymen. Guitarist Will Sergeant, talked a lot about how he envisioned The Bunnymen to be a rock band that emulated an electronic band (similar to Kraftwerk, but with guitars). I took this thought and looked to apply it to the record. I liked the idea that it didn’t matter what instrument was playing which particular part. That you couldn’t differentiate between guitar or synth, programmed drums or traditional drums. That most melodies or motifs could be interchangeable between instruments and they could all weave in and out of the listeners focus.Were any of the songs from the new album written with The Preatures in mind or are they all specifically for your solo work?
No. I always had in mind that I would use these songs for something else. Once I began working on them it became clear to me that they were very different from the bands work and that should be celebrated.What has the feedback from your Preatures band mates been like?
Really positive! I kept the songs to myself for some time. I wouldn’t play them to anyone until I was happy with them. We are all really supportive of each other. At the end of the day we are all creative people and creative people need to create to function. Both Jack and Luke played on some of the songs as well, which was great!'All New Low' is available now through Puncture Records.
Advertisement
Gideon Bensen: Haha…It’s funny you ask that. I thought about cutting it all off recently. I guess I better keep it now.My initial thought on the video was a cross between Suicide and George Michael. Was there anything or anyone that inspired “All New Low”?
Director Sarah Adamson and I both agreed that it should emphasise the tracks repetition. I thought it was a great opportunity to bring out the tongue and cheek humour in the track as well. I was inspired by Talking Heads as well as Kubrick’s A Space Odyssey for the colour treatment in a lot of shots.I like the spew and guitar solo. Is there much guitar on the new album or is it more electronic?
That’s one of my favourite moments in the clip too. There is a significant amount of guitar on the record, but a stronger electronic focus. I was listening to a lot of Echo and the Bunnymen. Guitarist Will Sergeant, talked a lot about how he envisioned The Bunnymen to be a rock band that emulated an electronic band (similar to Kraftwerk, but with guitars). I took this thought and looked to apply it to the record. I liked the idea that it didn’t matter what instrument was playing which particular part. That you couldn’t differentiate between guitar or synth, programmed drums or traditional drums. That most melodies or motifs could be interchangeable between instruments and they could all weave in and out of the listeners focus.Were any of the songs from the new album written with The Preatures in mind or are they all specifically for your solo work?
No. I always had in mind that I would use these songs for something else. Once I began working on them it became clear to me that they were very different from the bands work and that should be celebrated.What has the feedback from your Preatures band mates been like?
Really positive! I kept the songs to myself for some time. I wouldn’t play them to anyone until I was happy with them. We are all really supportive of each other. At the end of the day we are all creative people and creative people need to create to function. Both Jack and Luke played on some of the songs as well, which was great!'All New Low' is available now through Puncture Records.