Ghost Cult Magazine premiered the video of “tortuous unwinding”, the first single from city islands by postcards from new zealand
“Atmospheric genre mashers postcards from new zealand will release their new album city Islands from Mandrone Records on July 2nd, 2021. Emotive soundscapes and mind-bending electronics give a vastness and depth to the songwriting that sucks you in and doesn’t let go. This makes pfnz one of the more distinctive groups we have heard in 2021. We’re bringing you the new single and video for the track “tortuous unwindings.” It’s definitely one of the signature tracks from city islands, so check it out right now!”
city islands is the third instalment in an instrumental series called “we watched them devour”, the first two being “we watched them
devour” (2017) and “we watched them devour, vol.2: the morning after” (2020).
The music on these albums reflects an imaginary scenario in which something (creatures or machines or whatever they may be, it’s left to the listener to imagine) came down from the sky and reduced human society to ashes, leaving a handful of survivors to witness the aftermath of the destruction.
After going deep into sound design territories with “1’1701” and “we watched them devour, vol.2”, pfnz tried to build a bridge between desolate synthetic panoramas and the fleshy pounding of rock instrumentation, building a hybrid that has its focal points in one word: saturation.
Still retaining a highly narrative flow, the five songs feel more like mantras for the apocalypse, reflections on the devastation and the empty space it leaves behind.
Every song was crafted beginning with the electronic soundscapes that run through the whole album, then rock instruments kicked in.
This method spawned songs with a continuous sense of offset, of layers running parallel to each other, creating a deep spatial and timbric texture.
The album city islands will be released on the 2nd of July in a limited run of Digipack Vinyl CD and Cassettes, and it’s available to preorder on our shop
Mandrone Records
Watch tortuous unwindings video now!