With their debut single ‘Disgraced’, Cruelty introduced themselves as an riotously intense and commanding presence – focused intently on the primal nature of their sound.
With new track ‘Leather Boy’ frontman Will Briscoe truly comes to the fore – an unavoidable presence full of vulnerability and longing.
Built upon a deafening kick drum, Briscoe barks with an assuredness that belies the sense of exasperation that holds the him ransom. Drunk on romance and the strangling desire it leaves you isolated with, his voice loosens and contorts with emotional arrest, lingering on the physical presence that haunts as much fulfils him.
As the increasingly enveloping instrumentation towers over him, all that is left is stunning silence, all but the resonating drum that is palpitating in your chest.
It’s a stark and momentous moment from an increasingly evocative group.
Header photo by Amia Watling