Following the early 2019’s acclaimed Self/Titled debut album, Vienna, Austria‘s alternative rock quartet CULK drop the first single, “Dichterin”, from their forthcoming sophomore album, “Zerstreuen über Euch”, due out in October via independent label Siluh Records.
An intense, melodic, and gripping melodic guitar sound falling somewhere between Shoegaze and Postpunk, heightened by the beguiling vocals of Sophie Löw, whose distorted chords and urgent articulation underline the gloomy side of life with current and relevant lyrics, regarding power struggles against deeply rooted patriarchal structures.
“Zerstreuen über Euch” LP cover
Ominously hypnotic and emotional dark moods rise and fall along sparkling, melancholic guitar melodies that linger with subdued yet constant drum beats and deep sinuous bassline throbs, as sad, wistful female vocals brood intense meladies into the growing chorus of reverb-laden, mesmerizing haze lit by dramatic, wailing outbursts of distortion and icy keyboard stabs.
“Dichterin / Poetess” is about masculine and feminine words and the exclusionary principles held within. Dialogue lyrics engage a conversation with the cold emptiness of non-existence, pointing out the directionless alienation, “You know no words for me,” and the daunting silence that brings anonymity.
Alone in a smoke-filled room, a figure stumbles to break free from obscurity, as matte subtitles role “poet” then flicker “ess” to reaffirm the lyrical theme of oppression found in modern patriarchal language. A beautiful woman emerges from the stark scaffolding, wearing only a graffiti jacket and tough facial expression to protect her from a deafening monochromatic light that drowns her bleak essence into nothingness.
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