THE DATSUNS ANNOUNCE SEVENTH STUDIO ALBUM EYE TO EYE
Release date: Friday May 28th LP, CD & digital / Pre order the album here
+ RELEASE MIND-MELDING NEW SINGLE/VIDEO ‘BRAIN TO BRAIN’
Listen to the single here
‘BRAIN TO BRAIN’ 7″ OUT TODAY W/ B SIDE ‘WAKING UP SLOW’
New single ‘Brain to Brain’ is an electrifying sci-fi rocker.
“‘Brain To Brain’ is the first song we wrote for our new album, Eye To Eye back in 2016. It’s a very “Datsuns” type song, if there is such a thing? Pop sensibilities masked behind noise and high energy for two and a half minutes. Excellent guitar action from Phil via Christian’s wonderful world of custom FX. It’s about taking a huge step back from our digital worlds in order to preserve one’s sanity. We have so many amazing toys to communicate with each other but it often feels we don’t get it right, so much gets twisted. There’s a fascination in watching one another bare our souls and devour each other for entertainment that’s kind of horrifying.” – Dolf Datsun
Seven years hath passed since the last release action from NewZild’s most noted crafters of classic (as in some of sort of ‘70s-inspired grunge-metal meets garage) rock. And two whole decades are done and dusted since they took the Northern Hemisphere by storm, scoring a Peel session and an NME cover and touring the States and heading back to hit Australia & New Zealand for a Big Day Out tour and leading the back-to-rock charge at the beginning of the millennium alongside the White Stripes, the Hives and Jet. And while time has not stood still, it hasn’t slowed them one bit either – The Datsuns are now making the best music they’ve ever made.
Album number seven Eye to Eye has a varied stylistic grasp across its 11 tunes. It wraps the locomotive chug of classic Ian Gillan/Ritchie Blackmore-helmed Deep Purple – seasoned nicely with generous servings of Jon Lord keyboard surge – to some updated glam space boogie power chordage. Dolf comes across like some bastard offspring of Marc Bolan and Alice Cooper (and sounds at time a ringer for Redd Kross’Jeff McDonald); there are some otherworldly fantastical floating melodies wafting in & out of this selection of tracks, and the Alice sneer & snarl is there on the more heart-pounding tunes. The guitar effects and greater keyboard dosage pepper the tunes with new flavours; let us not forget the contribution here of lead Datsun instrumentalist, Christian Livingstone, who has laboured intently, fine tuning freaked fuzz frequencies and space-age squeal and a host of other soaring dogfighting & dive-bombing tones, for the instrumental breaks and beds of the album. If the tone and attack are the primary responsibilities Mr Livingstone bears, the dynamics and tempo rest in the mitts of them other Datsun three. Guitarist “Windmill” Phil Somervell brings his rhythmic chops & noted arm flailin’, to underscore the light & shade of the riffage; Ben “Poundin’ Soul” Cole machine guns the rolls, and hits the timing twists & turns when required; Master de Borst locks in his bass walkin’, & talkin’, stuttering & strutting preposterously on cue.
Eye To Eye is an album entrenched in the past, remodelled for the future, one unknown and uncertain more than ever.
Watch: The Datsuns ‘Brain To Brain’
The trials and tribulations of a lockdown music video!
Shot remotely by NZ director Marc Swadel (who now resides in London, who has worked with The Chemical Brothers, Stone Roses, Sparks, and Thurston Moore) through the lock down, the video is styled after a 70’s science documentary-type film and features London-based singer/DJ/model Iraina Mancini becoming the recipient of a jack implanted into her skull so tunes can be plugged direct in to her brain…
Marc Swadel relays “‘Brain to Brain’ is a great stonking rock track – with a classic 70’s vibe. “So I had the idea of making a crazy 70’s style science documentary film – complete with loud clothing and dodgy experiment footage, a scuzzy old school feel, and in-camera effects. I am really happy with it – You would never know that the band were all over the world under lockdown and never in the same room for this video. And it rocks!”
