screensaver No Movement single
screensaver, from Naarm/Melbourne, is a synth-based post-punk band. I first heard them with their single Living In An Instant back in January. I knew I would be into them immediately because I could hear hints of bands like Sparks, Devo, Screamers, or even The Epoxies.
No Movement Single
This week screensaver released their first single, No Movement, from the upcoming debut album Expressions Of Interest. The single has a kind of dark driving frantic energy, with vocals that give me a Hazel O’Connor vibe from the film Breaking Glass. Constructed on synth-punk instrumentation and an unwavering beat, it definitely makes you want to dance.
“‘No Movement’ was written in the jam room and built around the simple organ riff; despite its title, the song is full of dynamic and interplay between the instruments,” screensaver explains. “It’s a favourite of ours to play live. The lyrics explore themes of anxiety and rumination, shaping a loose narrative around a character paralysed by fear and intrusive thoughts unable to move forward in life.”
As the band states, the lyrics of No Movement convey a sense of discontent buried deep within our society. “No movement here, paralyzed by fear,” Maynard croones.
The video for No Movement was directed by Paddy Hay and features the band isolating themselves. It is interspersed with quick-cut scenes of Melbourne storefronts, warehouses, and the city at night.
Who is screensaver?
Initially formed by Christopher Stephenson and Krystal Maynard, in the US and Australia, respectively. Stephenson and Maynard originally met in Berlin back in 2014, when their then bands Spray Paint and Bad Vision shared a stage together. Stephenson eventually moved to Melbourne, and James Beck and Giles Fielke joined the project.
screensaver spent 2019 playing shows in Australia and in the US. During the 2020 lockdown screensaver explored the collective unease and disquiet of the new normal with the song Strange Anxiety. On October 8th of this year, Expressions Of Interest will officially be released on vinyl and digitally.
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