Prolific Italian murk merchants Father Murphy are due to release a new album this spring. Croce is a double-edged affair, a noise-pop "dark psychedelic/industrial cabaret" concept record about crucifixion, with the first half "representing the suffering and sacrifice and the flip side reflecting what comes after", we’re told. And from the A-side, we’ve got a first play of the suitably torturous ‘So This Is Permanent’, opening with Chiara Lee’s vocals grimed with distortion before subsiding into a desert soundscape, populated solely by the funereal ringing of metallic percussion and Lee asking, time and again, "can you take it?" See what your answer to her question is by giving it a play above (and watch a teaser video below) and get hold of the album when it comes out on Flenser on March 16. Before then, they’ll be embarking on a mammoth tour of Europe and the US, beginning in Gromka in Ljubljana, Slovenia on February 2; keep an eye on their website for details.
