Formed in the dank commuter womb of Colchester, Essex, Egyptian Blue are a haunting hybrid of dark post-punk and trippy psychedelia, whilst the ever-present voice of disaffected youth in their songs, gives them an unmistakable punk energy. Fresh off of shows with Yowl and Catholic Action, as well as being plugged by new music veteran Steve Lamacq – the four piece are clearly making an impact on the local music scene and for good reason. ‘Paralyse’ is a nightmarish triumph, the boys take their mirage of influences and turn them into a fresh yet disturbing sound – think Wire meets Joy Division distorted through an LSD Wash. It is at the same time dreamy and dreary. Their video embodies all the lyrical disenchantment – queue images of significant conservative leaders and atomic destruction crawling out amongst grey shadow. Its heavy on the eyes and ears in all the best ways. Give it a watch with the lights down low and let it take you on a wild wide through the horrors of modern history.
We caught up with the band to get a deeper understanding of the band, the track and the video.
Can you tell us a bit about Egyptian Blue, your beginnings and what you’ve been doing up until now?
The four of us met while navigating through various educational facilities. We were spending increasing amounts of our time rehearsing and making plans above a Jewellers shop in Colchester, along with playing shows.
Since we’ve moved to Brighton where we share a house, we’ve been recording music and playing shows. The Haunt is probably our favourite venue to date, and we’re currently trying to sort out Preoccupations support there.
Tell us about the single? What’s it all about and what was the recording process like?
Paralyse is an ode to what at first seemed a normal party, which then spiralling into a downfall of perversity. Enough to keep you up at night. The recording process was far less fraught as we decamped to the calming surrounds of Cambridge for that session – it was recorded at Half-ton studio.
You’ve made a video, What’s the concept and why did you feel this track needed a visual interpretation?
We wanted to create a video, with the help of our good friend Jonathan Waller (Who’s also recently been working with Hotel Lux), that represented the uncomfortable social setting we found ourselves in. The clips include old footage of everyday life in Colchester and Brighton, interspersed with the military industrial machine of politics and power. We tried to show the juxtaposition of “normal life” given everything that goes on around us highlighting the lunacy of it all.
What do you all have lined up for the rest of the year?
We’re just in the studio at the moment with Theo Verney – those tracks should see the light of day late summer.