“Imagine a boot stamping on the human face, forever.“
The modern world crushes expression. Our every data point is being taken up by faceless corporations, whose vast AI models engineer the feeds and search results of us and everyone around us. Without noticing we are told how to live, what to buy and who to believe. Memes, trends and social movements rise to rapid global prominence, only to rapidly fade into irrelevance. Endless feeds lull us into a thoughtless haze, and we quickly forget who we are. We may naively think that the convenience of such modern technology is good for human flourishing. But it seems to reduce us to a shadow of who we once were.
But there is hope. As we acknowledge this state of affairs, we can refuse to accept what we are told to believe. We can support authentic human expression where we find it. This does not have to be our future.
Such is the meditation that French post-rock band BRUIT ≤ offer the world in their latest album The Age Of Ephemerality. The band themselves live out their ethos – debuted in 2016 as an experimental sound project with two live videos, by 2018 they became a settled quartet with a clear musical direction combining atmospheric post-rock, modern classical and electronic noise. Their ethos is clear and uncompromising – alongside two EPs and an album, their discography includes “Parasite (The Boycott Manifesto)”, a protest song telling you to get off mainstream streaming platforms.
Not only do the track titles and audio samples of “the age of ephemerality” carry a withering social commentary, but the music itself confronts us. The album shifts between glitch-infused noise and mournful laments, revealing the world we now inhabit and the pain we should feel. Like their forebears Godspeed You! Black Emperor and This Will Destroy You, each track on the album carries an emotional arc that fits into the total narrative.
“Ephemeral” powerfully evokes transience with sudden, jarring shifts in mood: from mournful strings, to a crescendo marked by wailing guitar (evoking Godspeed You! Black Emperor on tracks like “Like Antennas To Heaven”), to a lonely and quiet acoustic guitar. Data’s audio sample gives a friendly invitation to the expanding world of constant internet scrolling – whilst the harsh noise of glitched synthesisers (suggestive of Oneohtrix Point Never) and foreboding layers of drums and guitar warn you of its danger. Data closes with mournful piano and guitar that restates the track’s harmonies, inviting you to reflect on who we have become.
Both “Progress Regress” and techno-slavery vandalism develop in a more typical post-rock crescendo, but BRUIT ≤’s unique instrumentation and characteristic sound profile sets these tracks apart. “Progress Regress” begins with sombre clean guitars reminiscent of This Will Destroy You and sombre cello into a fuzzy discordant crescendo – reinforcing our collective sense of loss. “Techno-slavery Vandalism” is driven by gentle synths and cascades into harsh techno-noise – perhaps tracing the trajectory of our future.
Whilst the whole album is very strong, the final track is a clear stand-out. The intoxication of power opens with a moment of exceptional beauty – a brass ensemble plays delicate chords with unresolved hope. This gives way to a majestic brass and strings-led crescendo, which rivals This Will Destroy You at their most sublime. Somewhere along the way though, the hope begins to falter as the crescendo becomes overtaken by a distorted guitar wailing over the music. But then hope recovers – into a glorious crescendo that suddenly cuts out. And we are left with the words of one George Orwell, interspersed with faint glimmers of noise:
“There will be no emotions except fear rage triumph and self-abasement.
This is the direction the world is going in at the present time.
There will be the intoxication of power.
Always at every moment there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy that is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.
The moral is a simple one.
Don’t let it happen.
It depends on you.”
Overall, the album is a promising development of post-rock into new and exciting ground. The album’s structure and variety of instrumentation and emotion is in itself compelling. Combined with its withering social critique, the age of ephemerality is a release that deserves wide recognition.
8/10
The Age Of Ephemerality releases through Pelagic Records on the 25th April and can be pre-ordered here.