NEONIZE by DEF NEON
Following on from lead singles They All Come Out at Night and Drive, DEF NEON have announced the release of their long-awaited third album, NEONIZE.
DEF NEON are North Wales duo Emily Gresham on vocals and bass and Mickey Harmina on guitars and electronics. Their electrifying fusion of rock, punk, electro, and bass music demolishes genre and scene boundaries as NEONIZE sets out to get a powerful, positive party started.
As well as building a profile that garners them their own headline gigs across the UK, DEF NEON have captivated audiences at events as varied as Infest Festival, Threshold Festival, Landed Festival and Loopfest. In recent years, Emily and Mickey have supported Republica, Pop Will Eat Itself, Alabama 3, 65daysofstatic, The Orb and The Birthday Massacre.
Fans will be pleased to hear familiar elements from the band’s self-titled debut and War Beats albums, but on NEONIZE the duo showcase their musical dexterity - as well as giving listeners greater insight into what influences the two people behind the DEF NEON sound.
Emily’s high-energy bass lines and poignant, powerhouse vocals – the latter given added impetus with a chorus of massed backing vocals – are the focus of many of the album’s ten songs. On the music and production side, Mickey and Emily look to the dancefloor as much as the mosh pit, with bassline, nu-rave, electro-house, dark wave, and DnB influences making their presence known.
Says Emily, “With NEONIZE, we didn’t really aim for a specific sound. We just are who we are and continue to just do what we do. We created what we enjoyed and just kept doing that, and that seemed to work.”
She continues, “Both of us have very diverse musical influences and ideas that merge together as one. It's a messy process, but eventually we come out with something we hope people enjoy.”
The band’s diverse influences are moulded together via a dynamic and proactive creative process. Reveals Emily, “Mickey comes up with an idea for a track. I create melody and lyrics. Then we nip and tuck and keep changing things up until we have a track that we are happy with. If we get bored, we know our audience might get bored, so we try to change things up, both for ourselves and hopefully for our listeners.”
Outside factors have also influenced the changes in sound as well as partly affecting why they make the music they do: “We always want tracks full of energy and big sounds. Lyrically, the songs on this album are about truth and authenticity. In a world that is pretty chaotic right now, we can only be who we are and embrace that, despite the expectations and demands from others.”
“For example, Get Out really reflects on leaving toxic environments behind when your instinct tells you to do so. Black Noise is meant to be an ear-bleeding track about making a big noise over those who berate you for just being yourself.”
“By contrast, Drive is a nostalgic track about moving forward despite being held back by others. I think with the current climate in the world, people are struggling with identity and trying to look out for each other, so that has subliminally influenced the lyrical content.”
Tracklist
| 1. | Until We Break it All | 4:07 |
| 2. | Drive | 4:26 |
| 3. | Get Out | 3:47 |
| 4. | They All Come Out at Night | 4:00 |
| 5. | Resolution | 4:22 |
| 6. | Black Noise | 4:09 |
| 7. | Burn | 5:00 |
| 8. | Tribe | 4:14 |
| 9. | Rise | 4:27 |
| 10. | Glass | 4:42 |
Credits
DEF NEON is:
Emily Gresham – vocals and bass guitar
Michael Harmina – everything else
All tracks written by DEF NEON
Produced, engineered and mixed by Michael Harmina
Cover image by John Griffiths (Sigma Artistry)
