The band, which features Liam Gallagher's son on guitar, have also announced their upcoming EP, Ecstatic Oscillations, due Sep 23
(Image credit: Dylan Coates)
Automotion – the London-based four-piece headed up by the son of Liam Gallagher, Lennon – have announced their next EP, Ecstatic Oscillations.
The upcoming effort has been previewed with its lead single Dithyramb, which offers up almost four-and-a-half minutes of fuzzed-up near-instrumental experimentation.
It certainly is a far cry from any Oasis or Liam Gallagher export, that’s for sure, featuring grain-y, off-kilter electric guitars that subtly toy with rhythm by way of overlapping upper-fret melodies and syncopated motifs.
Sounding like an accomplished early years Foals record, Dithyramb builds in intensity as its runtime canters along, with Automotion flexing their arranging and compositional chops by throwing freshly curated ideas into the vast melting pot of instrumental intrigue that lasts right up until the 2:30 mark.
A suitably edgy spoken word section then precedes the grand finale, which in turn serves up an angry flurry of modulated notes and a super-tight ending.
The word Dithyramb is reportedly a reference to the Ancient Greek hymn of the same name, with the track’s lyrical content said to be a “parody of the madman in the market, a comical rendition of a Nietzsche-esc character on a rant of wild nights of intoxicated frenzy and inept sociability”, as per NME.
When it arrives, Ecstatic Oscillations will be Automotion’s second EP, and will follow their debut offering, In Motion, which arrived only this June.
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Joining Lennon Gallagher in the Automotion lineup is lyricist Jesse Hitchman, drummer Otis Eatwell-Hurst and bassist Luke Chin-Joseph.
Speaking of Lennon’s music, Liam said to NME, “It’s fucking mental – I don’t know about ‘experimental’. That’s a fucking word for it. Gene (Gallagher, his son) was telling me there’s some scene like mathematic rock or summat. I was like, ‘This is giving me a headache already and I haven’t even heard any of it.’
It’s fucking mental – I don’t know about ‘experimental’. That’s a fucking word for it
Liam Gallagher
“I don’t get involved,” he continued. “They like what I do to a certain extent, but they’re fucking somewhere else. They wouldn’t listen to me, man, but they’re doing their own thing. Gene’s got some tunes on the go as well.
“But I don’t know what the fuck they’re drinking or smoking… all that weird music, man. Or maybe they’re not doing any of that and that’s why the music’s so fucking weird.”
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
