The Living Strange – 2020

The Living Strange live up to their name on eccentric new single ‘2020’

The beauty of music in the modern climate is that there is tonnes of scope for experimentation and cutting-edge risk-taking sounds, the rise of streaming services and avenues to create and distribute music has meant that the door is wide open for artists to put out whatever kind of music they like.

The Living Strange are a band that are taking full advantage of this. The Brooklyn trio are weaving genre-bending, daring alternative music that is compelling as it is subversive. Latest single ‘2020’ exemplifies this, echoing the chaotic unpredictability of artists like Poppy and the snarling distorted hatred of acts like Grandson and Rage Against The Machine. The Living Strange have truly carved out a unique niche with their Jekyll and Hyde sound.

“2020 is about how everyone has to manage their personal lives while also dealing with bigger collective issues.” The Living Strange’s Elijah Sokolow told Clout. “The two are connected and it’s not possible to ignore either in the end. Sometimes it’s hard to just go about your day normally when you constantly hear about existential threats. That’s the feeling that the lyrics address.”

These extremes of the normal and the more surreal are expressed perfectly within the music. With the sheer crushing chaos of the tracks verses giving way for more melodic choruses, that only seem to make the track more perplexing.

It is kind of difficult to describe the track and how it works while doing it justice, as much as the track feels like it shouldn’t work, it does. This is daring, confounding, mesmerising art. ‘2020’ is packed with left-turns, hyperbole, a wide range of influences and styles and a incredible amount of rage. It may only be January, but I’m willing to bet that you won’t hear anything else like this all year.