Molchat Doma have announced details of their fourth studio album, ‘Belaya Polosa’, to be released on the 6th of September 2024 via Sacred Bones, and have shared the album’s first single.
The Belarusian post-punk / synth pop group have always exuded the kind of brutalist aesthetic of the architecture that adorns their album art. It’s cold, gray, imposing, industrial—and yet there are human hearts beating within those foundations. In the wake of their breakthrough success in 2020, the trio endured a polarity of experiences, from the nadir of an uprooted life and forced relocation away from their native Minsk to the apex of headlining massive shows across the world. It was in this headspace that the band settled into their new home of Los Angeles to finish writing their fourth album ‘Belaya Polosa’, a testament to change in difficult times, a love letter to the digital pulse of the ‘90s, and a technicolor reinvention of the band’s somber dancefloor anthems.
Today’s single “Son” exudes emotions of anxiety, disappointment, hopelessness, and fear. It’s a dream-like examination of how it feels to leave for the unknown, knowing that you won’t be able to return to your old life. The band elaborates: “‘Son’ was written before each group member experienced significant life changes, including a move to a new and unfamiliar country. It reflects the destruction of everything once familiar. The video aims to capture the emotion of leaving for the unknown, knowing there is no return to your old life.”
The “Son” video was directed by Bryan M. Ferguson at a remote pyramid in the Scottish highlands and Assumption Studios in Glasgow. Ferguson comments: “It’s about a dream that feels like reality, and that dream bleeding into real life. The themes of ‘Son’ are universal and they bleed into the video through a Lynchian style odyssey of alienation. Our protagonist discovers an isolated stone pyramid in the middle of a dreamlike state, breaking the boundaries of reality by entering the structure through liquid and light to be met with darkness. I wanted to make something emotionally charged but atmospheric to match the song.”
Watch the video for “Son” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FeLgGvk8RU
‘Belaya Polosa’ pre-order/pre-save links: https://lnk.to/BelayaPolosa
In the four years since their last album, ‘Monument’, there was so much change in the lives of vocalist Egor Shkutko, bassist / synth player Pavel Kozlov, and primary songwriter, producer and arranger Raman Kamahortsau that it was only inevitable to hear a transformation in their music. “The entire album is a prism through which we tried to reflect what has happened to us,” the band says of their new work. Kamahortsau once again handled the production duties, though the sonic spectrum on ‘Belaya Polosa’ is markedly different from past albums.
From the opening synth swell and drum machine throb it’s clear that Molchat Doma are operating on another level. The band gained following with earlier albums that sound like third-generation bootlegs of banned recordings from the Eastern Bloc made after a few key entries in the Factory Records catalog were smuggled in from the West. ‘Belaya Polosa’ propels them into a new direction while retaining their cold minimalist delivery they’re known for. The basement grime and dirty tape-head sound of their previous work are now making space for digital luster and shimmering production values.
Moving on from the band’s past sound was only natural given the album’s themes of change and turning away from a troubled past into an uncertain future. “It’s a different band,” a member of Molchat Doma says when asked about the advanced arrangements and timbral ear-candy of ‘Belaya Polosa’. “A different sound and context, but the same style and the same emotions.” And indeed, Molchat Doma retains the duality of being both cold and feverish in their delivery while pushing their music into expanded territories through an armory of new textures. The trio continue to harness the sound of harrowing beauty thriving under harsh realities.
‘Belaya Polosa’ will be released on September 6th via Sacred Bones. Pre-order here.
Molchat Doma live dates:
Sun. Oct. 20 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Galvanizers
Tue. Oct. 22 – Manchester, UK @ New Century
Wed. Oct. 23 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
Thu. Oct. 24 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
Sat. Oct. 26 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Sun. Oct. 27 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg
Tue. Oct. 29 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef
Thu. Oct. 31 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur
Sat. Nov. 2 – Paris, FR @ L’Olympia
Mon. Nov. 4 – Hamburg, DE @ Große Freiheit 36
Tue. Nov. 5 – Copenhagen, DK @ Den Grå Hal
Thu. Nov. 7 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene
Sat. Nov. 9 – Stockholm, SE @ Fallan
Mon. Nov. 11 – Helsinki, FI @ Kulttuuritalo
Tue. Nov. 12 – Tallinn, EE @ Helitehas
Wed. Nov. 13 – Riga, LV @ Palladium Riga
Thu. Nov. 14 – Vilnius, LT @ Compensa Concert Hall
Sat. Nov. 16 – Gdansk, PL @ Stary Manez
Sun. Nov. 17 – Warsaw, PL @ Progresja
Thu. Nov. 21 – Vienna, AT @ Gasometer
Fri. Nov. 22 – Prague, CZ @ Lucerna Velký sál
Sat. Nov. 23 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom
Mon. Nov. 25 – Wiesbaden, DE @ Schlachthof
Tue. Nov. 26 – Munich, DE @ Theaterfabrik
Wed. Nov. 27 – Zurich, CH @ X-TRA
Fri. Nov. 29 – Milan, IT @ Fabrique
‘Belaya Polosa’ track list:
1. Ты Же Не Знаешь Кто Я / Ty Zhe Ne Znaesh Kto Ya (translation: You Don’t Know Who I Am)
2. Колесом / Kolesom (translation: By The Wheel)
3. Сон / Son (translation: Dream)
4. Белая Полоса / Belaya Polosa (translation: The White Stripe)
5. Безнадежный Вальс / Beznadezhniy Waltz (translation: Hopeless Waltz)
6. Черные Цветы / Chernye Cvety (translation: Black Flowers)
7. III
8. Не Вдвоем / Ne Vdvoem (translation: Not Together)
9. Я Так Устал / Ya Tak Ustal (translation: I’m So Tired)
10. Зимняя / Zimnyaya (translation: Winter Song)
