"A frenzy-filled dose of sonic adrenaline that is infectious and, paradoxically, suitable for the dancefloor... Is dystopian bliss a thing? They could be on to something big here" ~ The Spill Magazine

"You are getting Leeb’s classic vocals and lyrics, and some FLA style programming... some of the specific textures and bits of production feel different than anything in recent memory from the venerable artist" ~ I Die: You Die

"Instantly recognizable... still sounds like something unmistakably new... sinister synthetic soundscape" ~ Rock and Roll Fables

Hard-edged electronic music maverick Bill Leeb presents 'Demons', a song rooted in the inherent darkness and malevolence we see around us, where humans constantly deal with adversity while seeking purpose, joy and creativity. Reflecting on the omnipresence of technology and the internal battles we wage, this is ultimately a defiant anthem of perseverance.

This is the second taste of Leeb's debut solo album 'Model Kollapse', out on September 13 via iconic alternative music label Metropolis Records.

Based in Vancouver, Bill Leeb is the mastermind behind highly influential electro-industrial scene mainstays Front Line Assembly and ambient-pop duo Delerium, having gotten his start with Skinny Puppy. He is also a key member of other occasional recording projects, including Noise Unit, Intermix and Cyberaktif. Almost four decades on, his new album was recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles with assistance from Vancouver/Toronto-based production duo Dream Bullet and long-term FLA/Delerium cohort Rhys Fulber, plus regular mixing engineer Greg Reely.

"The song is inspired by how much darkness and evil exist in the world. How we have to carefully navigate ourselves through all of this on a day-to-day basis and still try and find a reason to get up, be happy to be alive, and try to be creative. Technologies are here to stay. Demons exist everywhere in our minds, in our hearts, and every aspect, so we have to fight," says Bill Leeb.

An instant industrial-EDM classic, 'Demons' plunges listeners into a menacing, synthetic underworld. With a career spanning back to the early 1980s, Leeb's signature blend of creeping electronic darkness and high-octane energy once again delivers an adrenaline-fueled sonic assault.

Not long ago, Leeb shared the first single - ‘Terror Forms’ featuring Shannon Hemmett of Vancouver post-punk quartet ACTORS (and also LEATHERS), exploring the intricacies of artificial intelligence and the very survival of humanity itself. Quite fitting with the overall theme for this album, which explores the dystopian, nihilistic world we have created in so many different ways, ultimately asking the question "When will the human voice be lost to AI and technology....or will that be what saves us in the end?"

Based in Vancouver, Bill Leeb is the mastermind behind highly influential electro-industrial scene mainstays Front Line Assemblyand ambient-pop duo Delerium, having gotten his start withSkinny Puppy(under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder). He is also a key member of other occasional recording projects, includingNoise Unit, Intermix andCyberaktif.

Four decades on, his new album was recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles with assistance from Vancouver/Toronto-based production duoDream Bulletand long-term FLA/Delerium cohort Rhys Fulber, plus regular mixing engineer Greg Reely. This album also involves contributions by LA-based artist Mimi Page, a long-term Delerium collaborator, andJason Corbett of ACTORSand Jacknife Sound Studio.

‘Model Kollapse’ marks Leeb's first solo venture since the mid-80s days of Front Line Assembly, when he used to make recordings in his bedroom and released them on limited edition cassette format. This record reflects the dystopian, nihilistic world we have created in so many different ways, ultimately asking the question "When will the human voice be lost to AI and technology....or will that be what saves us in the end?"

Caustic yet melodic, danceable and very much song-oriented rather than soundscape-driven, 'Model Kollapse' carries traces of hard-edged electronic dance music pioneers such as Front 242, DAF, KMFDM and Skinny Puppy.

The term "Model Collapse" refers to a phenomenon in artificial intelligence where trained models, especially those relying on synthetic data or AI-generated data, eventually degrade over time. Leeb posits the notion that “as we forge forward on an unprecedented technological scale, it makes me wonder how much longer we can remain in control of various aspects of our lives. Automation has already taken over many industries. With technology running much of the world, will the entire planet eventually be vulnerable to a Model Kollapse? Chaos would surely ensue.”

Leeb formed Delerium in 1987, exploring dark ethereal ambient trance and pop. Since debuting with the 'Semantic Spaces' album, Delerium has enjoyed two Juno awards and many collaborations, involving Leigh Nash (Sixpence None the Richer), Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance), Kirsty Hawkshaw (Opus III), Emily Haines (Metric), Jacqui Hunt (Single Gun Theory), Matthew Sweet and Kristy Thirsk (Rose Chronicles). Their worldwide hit 'Silence' with Sarah McLachlan reached #1 in numerous countries, its remixes also hailed among the greatest trance songs of all time (the Tiësto remix was voted the 12th-greatest dance track of all time by Mixmag readers).

‘Demons’ is out now everywhere digitally. On September 13, the full ‘Model Kollapse’ album will be released on vinyl and CD, as well as digitally.

CREDITS
Recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles and the Okanagan, British Columbia
Written and produced by Bill Leeb and Dream Bullet
Additional production by Rhys Fulber
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Greg Reely
'Demons' performed by Bill Lee
'Terror Forms' performed by Bill Leeb and Shannon Hemmett
Videos created by Tim Hill
Album artwork by Allen Jaeger
Released by Metropolis Records
Publicity by Shauna McLarnon for Shameless Promotion PR
Artist photos by Bobby Talamine

"Ian Pickering is among the most relevant songwriters of this generation, with topical subject matter, sharp lyricism, a relatable attitude and music that is addictive as F*&@. The same spunk that the progenitors of punk and orderly chaos of early post-punk were made of" ~ The Spill Magazine

"Beguiling... anthemic yet accessible, gothic, grand and graceful, delicately dance-driven and dark, coiled and ornate, slow and seductive" ~ Big Takeover Magazine

"Poetic brutality... the anthemic grace and stature of something by The Sisters of Mercy: it has an Arctic chill through which a lyrical, passionate heat radiates" ~ Backseat Mafia

"Ethereal electronic intimation. Light and dark entangle... true splendour and prowess" ~ Ringmaster Review

The Noise Who Runs presents their latest single 'New York To L.A. In 2-And-A-Half Minutes', with its bleak but beautiful view. Its siren-like synth, pulsing bass riff and crackling drums underline the urgency of rhythmic energy, which contrasts with the bittersweet "be careful what you wish for" melancholy expressed in the melody and vocals. Here, the speed of travel is symbolic as the sign of progress that, like so many technologies, save us time at the expense of experience, possibilities and chance.

This is one of 14 tracks found on the duo's new ‘Preteretrospective’ album, the brainchild of Ian Pickering (of Sneaker Pimps and Front Line Assembly), who also co-authored such hits as 'Spin Spin Sugar', '6 Underground' and 'Tesko Suicide'. Upon relocating from northern England to France, Pickering formed The Noise Who Runs with Brazilian-French guitarist Felipe Goes.

This latest single was inspired by commentary by one of the scientists involved in the space probe observing the sun. Pickering says, “That line - ‘New York to L.A. in 2-and-a-half minutes’ - instantly just starts painting pictures of an insane future, good or bad, at a certain cost, which is now too much, gone too far, that maybe what matters is not just everything that we take for granted, but more everything that we’re always complaining and bellyaching about. From that line, it pretty much all fell together.”

"The opening line "to be the death of kings in words" partly alludes to the Biggie and Tupac story, which perhaps best sums up the iconic stature of the two cities embodying the very best and the worst of US culture, which have largely defined most of the 20th Century (from music and movies to technological and scientific breakthroughs). After that, it examines the relationship between a future where travel is all but instantaneous and the very human thing at stake in no longer having to make the journey."

Earlier, the duo previewed 'Beautiful Perhaps', 'Takes a Long Cold Look and Then The Kitchen Sink' and '2poor2die', blending the abrasive beauty of electric guitars and electronica.

The looped simplicity of ‘Off the Rails’ is followed by the pandemic-inspired songs 'Things Fall Apart' and 'Electronic Babysitter' and the wonderfully bizarre groove of 'Somewhere Between Dogs and Wolves', inspired by Ted Hughes’ poem ‘The dogs are eating your mother’.

'So Good It’s Free', 'Zoe’s Edible Garden' and '2poor2die' deliver the most direct and obvious lyrics on the album, addressing the growing inequality in society and the struggle of the unheard and unseen decent people, who are without voices and increasingly without hope.

The utopian optimism of 'So It Goes' leads to 'Under the Sun', a campfire song with balearic beats that recounts the aftermath of the revolution that should be coming and finally 'L’altruisme', a strangely disconcerting slice of electronic weirdness.

Pickering reminds us, "Nothing that gets done here is for our benefit, you can be sure about that. We might get some hand-me-down bouquet of barbed wire benefit from the next breakthrough technology, but there’s nothing altruistic involved. There’s no heartfelt intention, empathy or compassion behind any of it; it all starts and ends with power, money and profit.”

Mixed and mastered by Colin C at The Cell Studio, the 'Preteretrospective’ album is out now and available across fine music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, where this and other releases can be obtained directly from the artist.

ALBUM CREDITS
All songs written by Ian Pickering
Felipe Goes - electric guitars and keyboards
Ian Pickering - vocals, electric guitar and keyboards
All songs recorded, engineered and produced by The Noise Who Runs
Drums and additional recording and production by Julien Guyot
Additional production by Colin C at The Cell Studio,
except 'Beautiful Perhaps', recorded and produced by Claudio Meza aka 'Spural' at Mauco Records, Chile.
All songs mixed and mastered by Colin C at The Cell Studio
Artist photos by Théo Valenduc

Bill Leeb (Front Line Assembly, Delerium) releases 'Demons', a sinister foreshadowing of debut 'Model Kollapse' album

THE NOISE WHO RUNS (Ian Pickering of Sneaker Pimps / Front Line Assembly) presents 'New York To L.A. In 2-And-A-Half Minutes'. Their much-anticipated 'Preteretrospective' LP is out now