Bae Baracus refuse to be caged on their adventurous and uncontainable new EP Escape To Freedom — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The West Coast post-punk electronic trio are the gift that keeps on giving with their latest release. Escape To Freedom is another fun, freewheeling project born from the chemistry and pure creativity of this musical A-team’s magic song cauldron. The EP features four new songs rolled in on a snowy weekend in xwesam, B.C., against a backdrop of full-fledged world order meltdown. Times just keep getting more interesting, and Bae Baracus keeps making offbeat, upbeat pop beats that are hard to beat. Pity the fool who doesn’t recognize their greatness.
Powered by Lin Gardiner’s considerable arrangement and production chops, Clef Seeley’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.”
Adds Dlef: “Genres always feel like brand labeling to me. I prefer the mysteriousness of the music’s definition. The sound and style certainly have 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.
Read their track-by-track liner notes for Escape To Freedom:
1 | Transgressive is about embracing your inner freak and walking tall in the techno-fascistic future. This electro-banger is inspired by all who have taken bold, brash action to fight for their human rights, lifting up everyone with them, but whose hard-won rights are always under threat — notably women, immigrants, indigenous people, POC, and especially LGBTQ2SI+. The band will release a video for the track on Friday April 4.
2 | Brink of Volition is a desolate, frozen soundscape that expands over a beat on a warpath — the remote corners are no longer out of reach as the darkness approaches. The track was born when producer Gardiner suggested doing a ‘soothing’ song. singer De Guerre adds “to me, the most soothing thought in a dark moment is knowing that maybe you still have some power of your own actions.”
3 | London Calling is a poignant cover that takes in and reflects the spirit of this EP. Besides being a Clash classic, it’s also Bae the band’s first cover tune — and clearly it was a perfect choice. An absolute belter, this urgent S.O.S. rings as true as ever, if not even more so now. Let’s unite and stand up to unjust regimes. We all live by the river.
4 | Wwise Words is Bae’s answer to the question: “Can we produce a dance track on the fly?” Just in case it wasn’t clear enough from the cut, that answer is “Fuck yeah!” The sensual track is a slomo realization of a ‘l’espirit d’escalier,’ coming into being but averting it just in time.
Listen to Escape To Freedom below and follow Bae Baracus on Facebook and Instagram.
