Neon Neon, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals among others and U.S. producer Boom Bip’s synth-pop project, are set to release their new album Praxis Makes Perfect on April 29 via Lex Records. You can pre-order the record here, and take a listen to ‘Mid Century Modern Nightmare’ from the LP below:
It’s all crashing snares and choppy synth fills, which forge an upbeat pop banger that’s a nice counterpoint to Rhys’ reedy intonations of a "mid-century modern nightmare, sucking up you and me". Again, the album’s got a theme (2009’s debut Stainless Style centred on the life of John DeLorean, builder of the DeLorean stainless steel car), this time based around the Italian left-wing publisher and activist Giangiacomo Feltrinelli with Italian actress Asia Argento fittingly reading out a speech by Feltrinelli on the track.
The duo will also be performing the album in spectacular fashion – the text accompanying the announcement explains that they’ve acquired the help of: "playwright Tim Price, director Wils Wilson and National Theatre Wales to create unique live performances using live music, a cast of actors, set design, lighting, projections and more". Have a look at the dates below, including an almost sold out run in Cardiff and Barbican-supported dates at Village Underground in London:
MAY
Thu 2 – secret location, Cardiff – SOLD OUT
Fri 3 – secret location, Cardiff – SOLD OUT
Sat 4 – secret location, Cardiff – SOLD OUT
Sun 5 – secret location, Cardiff
JUNE
Sat 1 – Forbidden Fruit festival, Dublin
Tue 4 – Village Underground, London
Wed 5 – Village Underground, London
Thu 6 – Village Underground, London