LA-based post-punk band Agender makes schizo, synthy, paranoid, post-punk with a dash of dysmorphic desire. They announce their forthcoming sophomore album, No Nostalgia. It’s due out February 24, 2022, but the band shares the title track with a brand new video. No Nostalgia is Agender’s sophomore album and arrives seven years after releasing their first record, Fixations. With two singles from the upcoming project, “Preach” and “Astro Tarot,” already out, the newly shared title track provides much-needed context for the album at large and what transmissions that Agender has in store.
The band comprises Australian lead singer Romy Hoffman, bassist Christy Michel, drummer Christy Greenwood, and synth player Sara Rivas. “No Nostalgia” dives into the realm of the imaginary, where all life has ceased to exist. It describes a post-human environment where a being can oscillate effortlessly in oblivion without the weight and pressure of modern existence. Memory is asked to be recalled and an urge to return to childlike innocence is brought forth. To enhance this sentiment, Hoffman creates a lullaby with “No Nostalgia,” which is often used as methods to teach children. The somber tone, reflective lyrics, moody synths, eerie guitar, and breathy vocals combine to make a single that shines with a retro late 70s/early 80s flare, and sonically, as Hoffman puts it, a sound that is “Malaria! Meets P.I.L and Wire.” The synth-led lullaby leaves the listener yearning to be one with their former self, even if it’s just for a moment.
Describing the song, Hoffman says, “The song imagines a world devoid of memory, where nothing exists anymore- the dust of semiotics and signs are what remains. There are no memoirs because there are no people. It’s a yearning for amnesia. Human beings are usually either looking back at the past or are worrying about the future. The oscillation between these tenses is what creates anxiety. No Nostalgia is a peaceful place of no anxiety, of evaporated earth and emptiness, of erased arousal, of no desire. There is no more danger because nothing exists. The song doesn’t say what caused this, but it’s post-human Earth about to rejuvenate itself from the vestiges and damages of Human existence.”
The accompanying video, which is Hoffman’s first-ever self-produced music video, was shot as a short essay and collage with lyrics overlaid to create a video narration. To emphasize feelings of sentimentality, Hoffman pieced together her own Lumix DMX LX-5 footage with vintage film clips that she discovered. Her love for film coupled with her admiration for essay filmmakers Chris Marker, Derek Jarman, and Dziga Vertov, inspired her to follow in their artistic footsteps and create her own music video. She flashes between scenes of human life, bodies in their natural form, cellular growth, and environmental decay to have the viewer watch what it would be like to return to a state of non-existence.
Describing her artistic direction, Hoffman says, “This type of method/genre is the only thing that felt right to bring to life this song about memory and nostalgia. It made sense to make a collage of memories, rather than to form a narrative.”
With an upcoming live show at Zebulon in Los Angeles, CA, on December 1, 2021, Agender continues to build upon their pre-existing hype. “No Nostalgia,” is but another piece of their release puzzle and lays the groundwork for a record full of true punk animosity.
Photo credit: Lindsey Byrnes
Album Photo credit: Carl Breitkreuz
Source: Big Hassle Media
About Author
