An enticing continuation of their earlier works, Banks Arcade return with the announcement of a brand new EP, A Muse, due out on June 28 via UNFD.
Evolving from the darker sides explored on their recent DEATH 2 EP, released in February, A Muse finds the New Zealand-hailing, Melbourne-based quartet shedding the expected and instead flourishing between moments of searing rock, towering hooks, dance beats, and fresh explorations into heavy surrounds.
A deeply personal extension of the chaos and sonic metamorphosis of DEATH 2, today's announcement of A Muse is also accompanied by the brand new single "Heartstop" — a swaggering, guitar-driven breakup anthem balanced with audacious grit and potent gloss, with the track premiering on New Zealand's #1 rock station The Rock.
Watch the visualizer for "Heartstop" below.
"'Heartstop' is a sassy breakup rock anthem," the band shares. "It’s got a bit of 'f**k you' to it, but really it's just a fun song that was made to make people dance and forget about that asshole that broke their heart."
Offering a memorable companion to their recent new single "Self Help," also taken from the forthcoming A Muse EP, Heartstop readily wears its heart on its sleeve with infectious abandon, with vocalist Joshua O'Donnell powerfully declaring, "I like the way that I move / When I'm not hung up on you," alongside a sauntering chorus backdrop. And it's this very notion of strength in vulnerability that carries throughout A Muse, from the vehement urgency of opening track "Alive" through to the moody ferocity of "No Future" and beyond.
"A Muse follows on from DEATH 2 in a much more vulnerable way," the band says. "It covers a lot of personal issues from relationships to internal struggles and in each song I tried to speak with my own voice as much as possible as opposed to the more abstract stuff on DEATH 2."
Via DEATH 2, Banks Arcade didn't merely build on their previously-established trademark sound; rather, it catapulted their heady blend of hard rock, electronic, and metal into an entirely new sonic stratosphere, while also expressing the darkest and heaviest side of the quartet to date.
Banks Arcade bring passion and potent execution to their myriad of influences and creative ideas. Formed over a shared love of music with a razor-sharp avant-garde aesthetic, Banks Arcade have always teetered on modernity; a fact displayed firmly on their 2018 debut EP Endnote, its 2020 follow up Fever Dreams, and the group's head-turning singles Roses and Drown, both of which have gone on to amass well over 2 million individual streams.
Releasing their full-length Future Lovers in 2022, Banks Arcade cemented their future-facing trademark style while also turning heads courtesy of their emphatic soundscapes, searing metal and hip hop additions.
Fresh off the back of releasing DEATH 2 in February, Banks Arcade also supported metalcore titans Northlane nationally alongside ERRA and Landmvrks that same month. And after two years of non-stop touring, Banks Arcade will also hit the road in New Zealand and Australia with a brand new live show this May, with the Death 2 A Muse Tour set to compile the band's best work to date.
For Banks Arcade in 2024, DEATH 2 was only the beginning.
