21 August 2019
Following up the release of ‘Sleep Armada’, which frontman Luke Monks-Quinane described as a “threnody for the slow cancellation of the future”, ‘Grey Madonna’ continues along this dark path, invoking, according to Monks-Quinane, “the death drive of choice” over a track that takes its cues as much from post-punk as it does from Gay Paris’ traditional heavy riffing.
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29 July 2019
After only performing sporadically since the end of touring for their third studio album The Dark Arts (2015), Sydney’s Gay Paris return to stages this August and September for three special shows across three states, celebrating 10 years in the game and the release of brand new material.
GAY PARIS
“TEN YEARS OF THE DARK ARTS” TOUR 2019
Friday, August 30: The Landsdowne, Sydney
Friday, September 6: The Tote, Melbourne
Saturday, September 7: The Crown & Anchor, Adelaide
To make this one hell of a party, the not-so-humble purveyors of riff-heavy rock’n’roll will be packing an extra member to fill out the pentagram and supercharge their bleak sense of humour, playing as a five-piece for the first time. This new incarnation of Gay Paris is set to perform songs from The Skeleton’s Problematic Granddaughter, The Last Good Party and The Dark Arts as they were originally recorded – including material not previously played live – as well as introducing new elements written specifically for the tour.
“We’re bringing our good friend Jason from The Stiffys along to play guitar and sing,” explains frontman Luke Monks. “I guess that the other dudes realised that I’ve become a morose POS over the last few years and wanted to make sure that there are at least four party guys on stage at all times.”
Described as a “threnody for the slow cancellation of the future”, new single ‘Sleep Armada’ was recorded at Def Wolf Studios in Sydney with producer Daniel Antix, marking the band’s most melodic, yet lyrically dark, material to date. “I never have a good time recording, but this time was different,” says Monks. “Working with Antix was a blast. Such a good time in fact, I did it sober. I think the big change here was really feeling like I lived in the songs, in the music, performance, lyrics, whatever. I usually come at lyrics in a kind of distant, high-theoretical way but while these songs may still sound abstract, they’ve remained visceral and lived rather than conceptual.”
The film clip for ‘Sleep Armada’ was constructed by Melbourne-based filmmaker Craig Bailey. With the band spread over several continents, they settled on repurposing elements of the silent horror film Häxan (1922) for a rampage of witchcraft and drunkenness, featuring possessed nuns, soul-eating demons and, of course, dancing pigs.
With supports to be announced soon, Monks makes this plea for your attendance: “We’re living through rampant alienation juxtaposed with compulsory happiness and a decentralized connectivity that wants to include everything. When we go into that mouth, we get chewed up and shit out. What is left? Consumers. Buy our records. Come to our gigs. This could be our last dance at the end of the world! It is good to be alive.”