Asylums share video for Genetic Cabaret track Platitudes

Asylums have released a video for their new single Platitudes.

It’s the latest song taken from the UK outfit’s upcoming studio album Genetic Cabaret which was produced by Steve Albini. It’ll launch on July 17 through Cool Thing Records, with Platitudes following Catalogue Kids andd A Perfect Life In A Perfect World.

Asylums frontman Luke Branch says: “It’s going to sound weird, but I initially wrote Platitudes using an old 808 drum machine and a synth.

“I was listening to loads of electronic film music at the time because I wanted a more angular and dystopian feel for Genetic Cabaret than our previous album Alien Human Emotions.

“By the time we started developing the track as a band, this song was sped up to almost hysterical levels and the fuzz pedals came back out.”

Branch adds: “Lyrically it's certainly influenced by some of the empty political messaging that was going on in early 2019 but spliced together with some topics present in the David Cronenberg, J. G. Ballard and Stephen King work I was obsessing over during its incubation.”

Speaking previously about the inspiration behind Genetic Cabaret, Branch said it was written “during the most turbulent time I've ever experienced socially and politically in the UK.”

He added: “I'd stay up late every night binge-watching the news and political punditry and write songs all day. During writing and rehearsals, my wife fell pregnant and the huge emotional impact of that got me thinking about the world I was bringing our child into from a new perspective.

“I examined political history, human biology, generational divides and emerging technology in equal measure. The resulting album feels leaner musically, harder-edged and with anger and empathy in equal measure.”

Here at Louder, we named Asylums as one of the bands you need to listen to in 2020 – a list that also featured artists including Black Belt Eagle Scout, Badflower, Pillow Queens and Loathe.

Asylums: Genetic Cabaret
1: Catalogue Kids
2: Platitudes
3: A Perfect Life In A Perfect World
4: A Town Full Of Boarded Up Windows
5: Clean Money
6: Who Writes Tomorrows Headlines?
7: The Distance Between Left & Right
8: The Miracle Age
9: Adrenaline Culture
10: Yuppie Germs
11: Genetic Cabaret
12: Dull Days

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.