As fans all know by now, Vancouver sludge-punk menace Nü Sensae recently signed to venerable Seattle imprint Suicide Squeeze and recorded their label debut Sundowning, marking the group's first long-player as a three-piece. The record will hit stores on August 7, but we've arranged for you to stream the whole thing here now on Exclaim.ca.
While the Suicide Squeeze deal didn't exactly have Nü Sensae worrying about the larger audience that would be listening to the album, they were thinking about doing their best work yet.
"It was weird because any other record we've ever done I felt like we could just do whatever the fuck we want and it doesn't matter to anyone except us at the end of the day," drummer Daniel Pitout tells Exclaim! "I think I was a little bit more concerned because for the first time really what we were doing affected another person in a bigger way. [Suicide Squeeze head David Dickenson] puts so much work into it. He didn't ask us to do anything specific, and it didn't distort my idea of recording, but it made me feel conscious of what it was sounding like."
Fortunately, the band were able to demo before they entered the studio thanks to guitarist Brody McKnight's home recording set-up. "Brody has an 8-track, so we had done some demos already on our own," Pitout explains. "I feel like we were well prepared."
Despite the preparation, the recording time still felt a little bit rushed. "I wish we had a couple more days of mixing, but we ran out of time because vocals took a while," McKnight admits. "But that's okay. We did what we could, and for the time that we had I think it sounds better than I expected. I think it came out the way we hoped it would."
This new record deal is certainly a step up for Nü Sensae, as they've entered the world of publicists and press releases. As bassist Andrea Lukic explains, however, they're still the exact same group, just with less of the stress.
"I think it just gives you more time to focus on playing music," she says. "Who wants to write a bio about themselves, how much they 'rock' and whatever else?"
Decide for yourself just how much Nü Sensae rock with a stream of Sundowning right here. And as previously reported, the band will be taking Sundowning on a North American tour in August, hitting up several Canadian cities. You can see all the upcoming dates here.
While the Suicide Squeeze deal didn't exactly have Nü Sensae worrying about the larger audience that would be listening to the album, they were thinking about doing their best work yet.
"It was weird because any other record we've ever done I felt like we could just do whatever the fuck we want and it doesn't matter to anyone except us at the end of the day," drummer Daniel Pitout tells Exclaim! "I think I was a little bit more concerned because for the first time really what we were doing affected another person in a bigger way. [Suicide Squeeze head David Dickenson] puts so much work into it. He didn't ask us to do anything specific, and it didn't distort my idea of recording, but it made me feel conscious of what it was sounding like."
Fortunately, the band were able to demo before they entered the studio thanks to guitarist Brody McKnight's home recording set-up. "Brody has an 8-track, so we had done some demos already on our own," Pitout explains. "I feel like we were well prepared."
Despite the preparation, the recording time still felt a little bit rushed. "I wish we had a couple more days of mixing, but we ran out of time because vocals took a while," McKnight admits. "But that's okay. We did what we could, and for the time that we had I think it sounds better than I expected. I think it came out the way we hoped it would."
This new record deal is certainly a step up for Nü Sensae, as they've entered the world of publicists and press releases. As bassist Andrea Lukic explains, however, they're still the exact same group, just with less of the stress.
"I think it just gives you more time to focus on playing music," she says. "Who wants to write a bio about themselves, how much they 'rock' and whatever else?"
Decide for yourself just how much Nü Sensae rock with a stream of Sundowning right here. And as previously reported, the band will be taking Sundowning on a North American tour in August, hitting up several Canadian cities. You can see all the upcoming dates here.