YAZAN ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM "HAHAHA" (FEAT. PILE'S KRIS KUSS) + SHARES "COCKROACH" VIA GOLDFLAKEPAINT

Posted on March 1st, 2018

[se seen on GoldFlakePaint]

A wild and impassioned burst of sentiments, which, musically, sits somewhere between Pile at their swooning best and a dramatic David Bazan, but also finds space for outlandish dramatical flourishes and gnarly guitar solos, the new track from NYC’s Yazan is a fascinating spectacle; a brilliantly bold introduction to his new record, both when diving in deep for hidden meaning or simply admiring the value of its gleaming face.

Contextually there’s also a lot to unpack here, but here we go. That aforementioned track, Cockroach, is the lead track from Yazan’s brand new album, Hahaha, which is released later this year via Exploding In Sounds ever-expansive roster. Yazan, the band, is fronted by Yazan Fahmawi, a native New Yorker born to Palestinian refugees, who has recently played in Pile, and has also previously played in Anna Mclellan’s band and Jackal Onasis, among various others. The new album is said to have been informed by Yazan’s most vulnerable and darkest feelings, and was “written during times of personal hardships and growth.”

There will be a lot to dig through in terms of the full album, but today we’re focusing on it’s lead track; a dense and disorderly burst of guitar-pop that we’re very pleased to unveil here today in all of its erratic splendour – and it’s streaming below for you right now.

“While I was running my Brooklyn basement art space, we often encountered big, bold roaches that would skitter across the floor, or sit on walls and amps in plain sight. When one was discovered it caused a commotion that would only be resolved after one of us would stomp the critter out,” Yazan says of the track, before admitting that a change of heart in such situations, and the imbalance between the sanctity of human life and a bug’s life, shifted the way he viewed both himself and the world. “The shift in my perception about life allowed me to glimpse into the darkness that I carry in me, and that we as humans have the opportunity to cultivate life in all forms, as well the power to wipe it out,” Yazan goes on to say. “The choice to let a harmless (albeit annoying) creature live is also a choice to favour the light in our hearts over the dark tendencies we sometimes manifest as humans.”

Untamed and packed full of heart, the new track is as singular a statement as such a preface alludes to – a billowing, bold, and boisterous five-minutes to signal Yazan’s reemergence. Leap in to its wide and waiting arms below right now.

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