New York-based post-punk band Bambara have just released their new single “Serafina”. This is the first single release from their forthcoming album Stray, which arrives February 14, 2020 via Wharf Cat. This will be a follow-up to the band’s last album, the critically-acclaimed Shadow on Everything.
“Serafina” is a dizzying mix of post-punk and noise rock. Bambara mixes together the buzzing angst of METZ and Iceage, with the visceral poetic delivery of Protomartyr, Swans, Grinderman, and a dystopian prophet delivering commandments from a smoldering hill.
This Brooklyn, New York-by-way-of-Athens, Georgia three-piece consists of twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh and William Brookshire. The band was formed in 2009 and had a penchant for lo-fi noise debauchery, creating malevolent sound collages using machines, loops, and lo-fi software. But by last year’s Shadow on Everything Bambara stripped away much of that noise and was left with a sparse, driving, and hungry sound that brings to mind classic noisemakers like Mission of Burma, Nick Cave, Swans, and The Fall.
Here’s what the band has to say about “Serafina”:
“Stray is a death-obsessed album. Most of the songs are about different characters’ futile attempts at living meaningful lives under the weight of imminent annihilation. I wanted “Serafina” to feel different. I wanted the song to radiate a sort of wild-eyed hope. A youthful disregard for death itself. Serafina and Sadie live exactly how they want to live, exploring their love for one another before a backdrop of flames. The knowledge of their own mortality takes nothing from their enthusiasm for life. If anything, they see it as a challenge they might one day overcome together. When they say, ‘We’ll never die’ I want it to feel like they might actually have a shot.” – Reid Bateh
With first single “Serafina”, Bambara seem to have lost nothing in terms of power of delivery. They’ve only honed their visceral sound to an even more effective tool. And with a newfound focus on rhythm and poetic vocal delivery, this post-punk outfit might just be looking at one of the best releases of 2020.
Stray drops February 14th, 2020 on Wharf Cat. Preorder it here. And check out “Serafina” below.
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