Name: New Material
Brand: Preoccupations

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

jag320lp

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: Yes

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2018-03-23

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

0656605232010

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

jag320lp-c1

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Grey

Grey Streak Vinyl

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[r11735297]

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Extended format: Yes

2020-04-17

0656605232034

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1 / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / grey

jag320cd

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Download code: No

0656605232027

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Preoccupations

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Jagjaguwar

Jagjaguwar is an American independent label based in Bloomington, IN. Founded in Charlottesville, VA in 1996 by Darius Van Arman, the label was invited to relocate to Bloomington by Jason Noble of Rodan. Darius followed this invitation in 1999 and has since built a reputation for releasing exceptional music.
With a focus on promoting talented artists across various genres, Jagjaguwar has become known for its diverse roster and commitment to supporting independent music. The label's catalog includes releases from acclaimed acts such as Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
As a trusted name in the industry, Jagjaguwar continues to champion innovative and boundary-pushing music. With their dedication to quality and artistic integrity, they have established themselves as a go-to destination for music lovers seeking unique sounds and fresh perspectives.

Preoccupations is a Canadian post-punk band hailing from Calgary, Alberta. Originally known as Viet Cong, the band was formed in 2012 and consists of Matt Flegel, Scott Munro, Daniel Christiansen, and Mike Wallace.
With their unique blend of atmospheric soundscapes and intense energy, Preoccupations have garnered a dedicated following within the post-punk scene. Their music explores themes of existentialism and introspection, creating a thought-provoking experience for listeners.
Known for their captivating live performances, Preoccupations have toured extensively across North America and Europe. They have released several critically acclaimed albums that showcase their evolution as musicians and songwriters. With each release, they continue to push boundaries and challenge musical conventions.

Preoccupations’ songs have always worked through themes of creation, destruction, and futility, and they’ve always done it with singular post-punk grit. The textures are evocative and razor-sharp. The wire is always a live one. But while that darker side may have been well-explored, that’s not quite the same as it being fully, intensely lived. This time it was, and the result is New Material, a collection that broadens and deepens Preoccupations to a true mastery of their sound. In it lies the difference between witnessing a car crash and crashing your own, between jumping into an ocean and starting to swallow the water.

“It’s an ode to depression,’ singer Matt Flegel says plainly. “To depression and self-sabotage, and looking inward at yourself with extreme hatred.” Typically resilient, the months leading up to recording New Material brought a new order of magnitude to feelings that had been creeping up on Flegel for some time. He’d written bits and pieces of lyrics through the course of it, small snippets he hadn’t assigned to any one thought or feeling but were emblematic of a deeper issue, something germinating that was dense and numb and fully unshakeable. As the band began writing music, that process gave shape to the sheer tonnage of what he’d been carrying. With virtually nothing written or demoed before the band sat down together, the process was more collaborative than before.

It was almost architectural, building some things up, tearing others down to the beams, sitting down and writing songs not knowing what they were about. But for Flegel, it led to a reckoning. “Finishing ‘Espionage’ was when I realized,” says Flegel. “I looked at the rest of the lyrics and realized the magnitude of what was wrong.” New Material builds a world for that feeling, playing through its layers and complexities while hiding almost nothing. That inscrutable side is part of the magic, here, and a necessary counterweight to the straight-jab clarity of Flegel’s lyrics. You can deep-dive the lyrics or zone into a riff; you can face it or you can get lost in it. “My ultimate goal would be to make a record where nobody knows what instrument is playing ever,” says multi-instrumentalist Scott Munro, “and I think we’ve come closer than ever, here. It shouldn’t sound robotic — it should sound human, like people playing instruments. It’s just maybe no one knows what they are.”