Bae Baracus dig deeper and hit paydirt on their darkly compelling and sonic liberating new release Release — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The West Coast post-punk electronic trio’s latest full-length spotlights and documents their musical evolution as they lean into an intentionally darker vibe than previous outings. But even as they draw on edgier guitar tones, gloomier vibes and heaver moods for these eight tracks, the band stay committed to their signature synths and love of classic electronic music, resulting in a glorious, enticing and timeless sonic blend.
Release explores the double-edged themes of liberation and the ennui that can accompany it. Like a 3 a.m. coffee, the album’s mood is both energizing and anxiety inducing. Songs like Lost Touch, Vortex and Ominosity will compel you to abandon all hope of sleep and head out to embrace the endless possibilities of the night.
Bae Baracus know how to make the most of possibilities. If you only count all the days the B.C. trio have been together in the studio over the years, they have been a band for less than three weeks. Consider then, that in that time they’ve created six singles, three EPs and now an album — an indication of the impressive creative sparks that fly when the three of them collide. “The Bae symbiosis is undeniable,” says multi-instrumentalist Clef Seeley. “Every session, right away. We show up and blow up in the studio every time.”
Born by accident in the summer of 2020, during a socially distanced songwriting workshop at producer Lin Gardiner’s rural Sound Garden Retreat studio, this unlikely group hit on something special. Powered by Lin G’s considerable arrangement and production chops, Clef’s skilled multi instrumental playfulness, and lead singer Dolly De Guerre’s jaggedly lyrical sensibilities, the Bae Baracus sound taps into the 21st century zeitgeist and channels it with the timelessness of their unashamed sparkle.
“I’d say we’re punk at heart” says Dolly. “There’s anger and a smart-alec attitude behind much of what we do. But our anger is tempered by our overriding love of layered melody and a dance beat. We want to party, we want you to dance.”
Counters Clef: “Genres always feel like brand labeling to me. I prefer the mysteriousness of the music’s definition. The sound and style certainly has influences, but what you get in the end comes from our collective artistic perspectives. I never go into the process thinking ‘We gotta get the aesthetic right’. It happens naturally.”
Their off-the-cuff, tongue-in-cheek aesthetic pervades their visual art too, with their record covers and videos for their singles acting as an obvious manifestation of their punky, DIY-disco ethic. “One of the best things about creating with Dolly and Clef is that none of us are overly precious about anything we do,” says Lin. “We work fast, we turn ideas around without going down rabbit holes in the pursuit of elusive perfection. The fact we’re all on the same page makes our sessions fun and pressure-free, and I think that comes through in our sound and videos”.
Looking back, their first tracks like Never Yours and the chill Sunshine offered dance floor denizens a mood from both ends of the party spectrum. Their band name stems from another of those early tracks — Bad Attitude. Dolly’s lyrics are a tale about a couple of runaway Irish kids who board a plane to N.Y.C. in a quest to meet their idol B.A. Baracus. A remarkable story, a popular Bae song, and an example of the playfulness of this band, when they decided that Bae Baracus was the name for them.
Listen to Release below, watch the videos for Lost Touch and People above, and follow B.A. Baracus on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
