If there was any justice in the world, A VOID would be the leading rock band in the world at the moment. They are one of the very rare bands that come once a generation as a fully forged, perfectly developed package – talented musicians, lyricists, videographers, smart, writing catchy but meaningful songs. I’m not sure why they are not yet sharing stages with Foo Fighters, Hole, Linking Park, PJ Harvey and Sonic Youth. And no, I’m not exaggerating. A VOID is that class of a band that belongs up there with the greatest, iconic performers. Fingers crossed their newest album will finally catapult them from the indie market into the great wide open.
A VOID by Neil Anderson
Official bio: A VOID is a 3-piece rock band from Paris/London. The band consists of Aaron Hartmann (bass), Camille Alexander (vocals/guitar) and Marie Niemiec (drums/back vocals.) Will scream insanities in your ears and make you uncontrollably dance the onche-onche ondulé. Nightmare of sound engineers. “There is beer all over my pedalboard!” “Twice I got electrocuted while I was playing!” “Charles Aznavour!” A VOID will delight you, disturb you, and most importantly, always surprise you. Their new album “Dissociation”, mixed and mastered by Jason Wilson at Stakeout Studios, was released on 9th of September 2022.
Album cover photography by Dave Shrimpton and edited by Camille Alexander
A Void has been around for a while. They made their debut in 2016 with a 5 track EP called “Roses As Insides”. Their leading single, “Blossomed Into Anger” received very positive reviews from BBC Introducing, BBC Radio 6 and BBC Radio 1. Indie blogs were also thrilled calling Camille Alexander fantastic front woman (Popped Music), praising her hauntingly beautiful voice (Brighton And Hove News) and named the band as explosive as gasoline (Underground England). A VOID went on to release their debut album “Awkward and Devastated” in 2018 and then proceeded to put out a string of well received singles throughout 2020 and 2021. Yesterday, their second album “Dissociation” was released and it is everything that a fan of rock music could ever wish for.
Those who follow the career of the band quite closely will know half of the album by heart straight away as 6 songs off it were released as singles: opening track “Sad Events Reoccur Part1” was released alongside “Sad Events Reoccur Part 2” in January 2021, “Stepping On Snails” in August 2021, “Newspapers” followed in April 2022, “5102” in August 2022 and finally “Sick As A Dog” premiered in September, just hours before the album hit the shelves. Both songs were accompanied by incredible music videos directed by Camille herself. They were viewed by thousands of people on YouTube.
I have to say, I’m not a fan of an arrangement that shares half of new material from the album a year or even more before the premiere but it seems to be becoming more and more common with indie and major releases these days. 20 or 30 years ago, it was the other way around. One or two singles maximum were released before the album came out and then two or three more tracks followed to keep the record on the charts and in fans memory. This tactic extended the shelf life of a product sometimes up to 6 months and helped with ticket sales. Today, with digital singles and very little support from labels, bands seem to be forced into a social media influenced rat race where content (aka new music) is out every 60 days on average. But hey, this rant is a topic for another day.
New A VOID fans have zero reasons to complain – the band is in excellent form and they have several bangers that would make them A-Listers in the grunge hay day. “Dissociation” is a perfect mix of 90’s grunge, riot grrrl, American post punk and American alternative music with a modern, very crisp production from Jason Wilson (Marisa and The Moths, We Are The Ocean, You Me At Six).
There are several songs that truly stand out – “Sick As A Dog” reminds me of “What Would Happen” by Meredith Brooks although in a more edgier version. “Newspapers” with its manic, grind core drumming, Alice In Chains’ broken riffs and catchy choruses sounds like Pavement, Mary Timony and Mr Bungle’s side project. “One of A Kind” could be a song by Smashing Pumpkins being fronted by Courtney Love and Melissa Auf Der Maur would love to have penned “5102”.
“Dissociation” is an album that should be in the vinyl collection of everyone who wants to make professional music. And in the collections of those who truly value ambitious releases.
I keep my fingers crossed that in the next few years, I will be reading about the band not on indie blogs but on Guardian Music, NME and Billboard. A VOID have real star quality about them and it’s high time that the world should finally realize it.
Follow the band online:
http://www.avoidinyou.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwCzGg0kXD8delfwMQqgtQ
https://www.instagram.com/avoidinyou/
https://www.facebook.com/avoidinyou
https://twitter.com/avoidinyou
https://avoidinyou.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/album/4Ecxd2jnG9r0b6k12Ij0up
Autumn/Winter tour:
14 September – Rough Trade East, London (+ album signing)
29 September – La Dame De Canton, Paris France (with SheWolf)
21 October – The Hairy Dog, Derby (supporting The Soapgirls)
06 November – The Old Depot, Nottingham (supporting Snake Eyes)
11 November – The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
18 November – The Windmill Brixton, London
23 November – Sidney and Matilda, Sheffield
01 December – The Loft, The Kings, Portsmouth
You can order a copy of the album at:
https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/a-void/dissociation
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 