The Voidz
QYURRYUS
RCA Records
New single QYURRYUS from The Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas’ more experimental band The Voids (formerly Julian Casablancas and The Voidz) is as weird as you’d expect, quite possibly their strangest yet. An audible trip that’ll leave you confused and disoriented, yet somehow wanting more.
Unlike the more melodic, almost Strokes-like previous single Leave It In My Dreams, QYURRYUS opens with a synth-pop sound that lures you in before quickly intensifying into some warped electronic-industrial hybrid.
A bassy throbbing and almost heartbeat like backdrop along with some cool static, scratchy guitar and mystical keyboards adds interesting randomness to the mix but the vocal mashup proves a little too divisive. The mumbling robotic vocals from Casablancas on their own fit the song’s tone nicely, and even the pitchy tribal chanting that comes in, but those autotune saturated vocals just add too may layers to the mix.
There’s lots happening from the get go and getting lost is easy with QYURRYUS. It’s weird but somehow it kind of works. Like leaving a toddler unattended with a box of crayons, it’ll get messy but there’s somehow beauty in the product, beauty only achieved via momentary insanity.
When and where this song fits best though, I have no idea. One thing’s for sure, new album Virtue, intended for a March 30 release, is going to make for an unusual listening experience.
RYAN ELLIS
