Premiere: 00_ - Ivy (Crystallised Damage)
By Wil Clifford | May 10th, 2024
It’s the post-punk radicals’ second single ahead of their sophomore album ∞, out May 17th through X Amount Records.
“I think we're just approaching our practices differently,” said guitarist Asher. “After the first album and kind of gigging those songs a lot, I kind of took a step back and looked at what we were making sounds with and then kind of went like, ‘Okay, and then what happens, what else can we do?’”
Bassist Gene added “We got a few more pedals; that's a bit of a shallow example.”
For a band built like 00_ however, that’s huge. Their debut record, 2021’s Ca\yptra, was a labyrinth of complex song structures, prickly tones and vocalist Cllawd3’s soulful wails. Since then the group has formed a successful partnership with engineer Alex Bennett at Sound Recordings Studio, releasing a couple tracks in 2022 as well as ∞’s first single, Bath Water Baby, in January.
“I think he's just very good at accommodating everyone's wants and needs,” said Cllawd3. “If people do want to explore and utilise the studio space and the equipment, he's more than happy to do so. He's very good at nurturing ideas.”
On Ivy, 00’s unique qualities are refined, sharpened and even more impactful.
“I feel like when you're looking for creative inspo as an instrumentalist and you're not sure where to go, playing to your equipment can really help you discover some things,” Asher said. “That definitely led me towards some of the sounds that I make on the record.”
Ivy showcases the wavering atmosphere that 00_ do best. Opening with shapeshifting riffs and haunting minimalist rhythms, Cllawd3’s voice seeps through the cracks, stirring and wistful. Emotive hits are calculated, with drummer Elvis emphasising peaks and pauses in the guitar and vocals.
“We tried a whole lot of different stuff. We really engaged in a subtractive process of like, ‘What are the bare essentials we need to keep this song going?,’” said Gene. “There were multiple iterations of the song where we went a bit hog-wild with it, but what ended up being on the record is like three notes for a lot of it.”
The track rises to a powerful climax, swelling atop Gene’s droning viola. Guitars are lush, blossoming along Elvis’ steady beat. It’s a pinnacle that sounds like it was recorded in an abandoned cathedral, echoing through empty halls and reaching the ceilings. It’s really not that loud, but it is beyond impactful.
“I think our tendency is to be noisy, but [we’re] embracing comfort and being a bit quieter this time around,” said Gene.
Ivy (Crystallised Damage) Single Artwork
“It is different to how I imagined it, but it's not for me, you know? Making the song and how I imagined it, that's when that had a purpose, those visual cues, but no longer do I need to have that visual attachment to it because it's not for me anymore. I've released it.” - Cllawd3, on the Ivy Music Video
Accompanying the track is a cryptic music video, directed by John Hewison of Dog Milk Films, encapsulating the abstract tone of Ivy perfectly in its visuals.
“I remember when [Cllawd3] brought in lyrics for [Ivy], it really felt like there was a story to them as well,” said Gene. “It kind of seemed like an obvious choice - not obvious, but this is going to work well with some kind of visual storytelling to it as well.”
Featuring the members of 00_ hobbling around a Macedon pine plantation in unnerving monster costumes, the video showcases the band’s avant-garde, collage-based style. It was difficult for Cllawd3 however, the group’s lead visual artist, to hand over her vision.
“For some of these songs, I had a very strong visual, so it was a bit of a challenge for me to hand over these ideas because obviously it was never going to come out how it was in my head," they said. “They did a good job of reinterpreting my visual ideas and creating something else that I wouldn't have been able to think of myself.”
Ivy only heightens anticipation for 00_’s sophomore record ∞, out May 17th. It promises to be another tangled array of yearning post-punk, but with a newfound consideration for each other and the songwriting process.
“I think the mindset kind of shifted,” said Asher. “I remember we definitely had conversations with the first record of not wanting to do things that made it sound not live and then this time it was totally the opposite approach for whatever reason of, ‘Let's finesse this.’”
Listen to Ivy (Crystallised Damage) on Spotify.
Pre-order ∞ on Bandcamp.