With “Machine in Flames,” Sea Foam Grey delivers a post-punk banger that makes you want to dance on the beach around burning screens.
After several local gigs and a growing following, this is the Hague quartet’s baptism of fire.
The song’s theme and name were inspired by a documentary that tells the story of French IT workers who destroyed computers in the 1980s, seeing them as instruments of control and oppression. This story is strangely reminiscent of the sabotage during the Paris Olympics, in which fiber optic cables were cut.
The lyrics point to our paradoxical relationship with technology – we know that too much technology is bad for us, at the same time we are unable to stop using it. Even if everything is on fire “I will prefer fiber over long walks on the beach.”
Musically, the song is carried by a bass riff by Nuno Rijken that rumbles through the song like a wild bull. This is supported by Ruben Kramer’s strong drumming that ends in a tangle of cymbals reminiscent of his punk drummer background. Nick Smalten’s guitar and synth guitar set the mood and reinforce the hook in the chorus that stays in your head all day. Moreover, Boris Duval’s vocals remind you of Echo and the Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch, alternating between low notes in the verse and higher notes in the bridge.
Machine in Flames was recorded in The Hague at the Inner Islands Music Studio. The single was produced by Ingmar Spaaij and mastered by Bram Bol.
The illustration for ‘Machine in Flames’ was designed by Clémence Mira.