THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Like a scantily clad Creature From The Black Lagoon, Manhattan quartet cumgirl8 have emerged from their primordial goo, resurrecting in striking full colour with new music. After coming-of-age with their self-titled debut EP (2020), experiencing their own end with their RIPcumgirl8 EP (2021), and witnessing a twisted vision of the afterlife through their phantasea pharm EP (2023), cumgirl8 are on the cusp of their 8th Cumming by way of their debut LP.
Described as a utopian, chaotic ‘Greta Thunberg fever dream,’ 8th Cumming (recorded live, entirely on analog) is rooted in a philosophy close to the band’s heart: Cyberfeminism, a discipline that addresses the relationship between human and machine, nature and technology. Within this context, the record aims to examine our relationships with the online and physical worlds from an apocalyptic vantage point, even down to its artwork in which the band adorns slime-covered futuristic garments in a murky landscape (representative of an inevitable ‘post-reality’ consisting of our deteriorating natural ecosystem and the dissolution of consciousness at the helm of artificial intelligence).
Historically flexing their political muscles via outspoken activism (including protesting SXSW 2024), innuendo-ridden lyrics, adventurous stage presentation aided by costumes created in-house by the band, and merch table Plan C (medication abortion) pills, this current version of the band have taken things up a notch, unafraid to introduce listeners to complicated themes while exploring their creative boundaries and looking inward.
The album’s tracklist sonically oscillates between dark and light, travelling intergalactically between distorted, gothic industrialism — encompassing everything from the retro horror soundtracks of John Carpenter to Chris & Cosey and Suicide-reminiscent suspense, romantic synth-wave, and gritty post-punk experimentalism. A handful of musical references the band turned to during their writing sessions include Miss Kittin, Delta 5, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Throbbing Gristle, ESG, Desire, Ladytron, Deli Girls, Nine Inch Nails, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Peaches, Björk, LustsickPuppy, Nite Fleit, White Town and Girl Pusher. Nods to each can be heard in small doses throughout.
Colliding with its varied musical landscape, 8th Cumming sits firmly between hyperrealistic and fantastical in terms of its themes, calling back to the record’s interplay of cyberfeminist societal critiques and the foursome’s lived experience.”
