TRACK OF THE DAY: THE JEZABELS – ‘Pleasure Drive’

TRACK OF THE DAY: THE JEZABELS - 'Pleasure Drive'

Australian dark synth-rock quartet The Jezabels have revealed the enthralling video for new single ‘Pleasure Drive’, released on January 22nd. ‘Pleasure Drive’ is the latest song to be taken from the band’s upcoming third album Synthia, due for release on February 12th.

Like Chrissie Hynde starring in an episode of True Blood, ‘Pleasure Drive’ sees frontwoman Hayley Mary cast a spell of operatic gothic pop in a video overcome with the dark grip of lust. A haunting power takes hold of Mary and a diner full of enchanted women taking the control back from their domineering partners.

‘Pleasure Drive’ is the most recent song to be taken from Synthia, and will be available as an instant grat track for pre-orders of the album on iTunes from January 22nd. It follows the shady industrial encounter and captivating animation of ‘Come Alive’, which was released online last year.

From the dreamy electronics of album opener ‘Stand And Deliver’ to the glitchy thrash of the poignant ‘My Love Is My Disease’, The Jezabels have developed their sound into a more personal entity than ever before. It’s never demonstrated better than in the delicate groove of ‘Unnatural’ and the writhing rhythms of ‘If Ya Want Me’.

Synthia sees the quartet bringing a potent message of feminine empowerment loaded into the title itself – reimagining Cynthia, the Greek goddess of the moon, as the synthetic female archetype that the rock world simplistically prefers whilst according reverence to the ‘authenticity’ of male artists. Celebrating the female it’s as inspired by ‘80s pop goddess Cyndi Lauper as it is by feminist handbook The Heroine’s Journey.

About Synthia, Haley Mary says, “Previously I’ve shrouded myself a lot in mystery and the language of romanticism; played roles and stuff — which reflected some kind of truth about how I felt as a woman. Now I feel like I can be much more upfront about all that. The truth about how it feels to be a woman has become a much more prominent part of the general conversation in the last couple of years… These are exciting times. I think we’ve made an album that celebrates that.”

Expanding upon this to Interview Magazine, she states, “Stories of women are being told and listened to more than ever and that, I think, will have a lasting effect on culture. I suppose [in making the album] I just felt more confidence to tell my own stories because of the way I felt the world was going. I feel like more of a real person, with valid thoughts and aspirations, because I see more people like me out there. I guess that’s why diversity is important. It’s not just tokenism. It tells people they’re accepted.”

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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