Defects: Showcasing Our Modern Errors
The introduction track to DEFECTS‘ debut album, Modern Error – which is called Intro – “is an AI warning system, and it uses all the song names of the album to tell a story that is leading into the themes of the album,” explains drummer Harry Jennings.
“We also use the interlude that is almost halfway through the album to reiterate that,” adds guitarist Luke Genders. The interlude “was something we put together for our live shows. We used the middle eight of the title track, and we just evolved it,” he adds. “We wanted something that matched the atmosphere of Echo Chamber and the title track,” vocalist Tony Maue explains.
Artificial Intelligence might sound like something out of a science-fiction novel, but in 2024, it is very real, and it is only recently that musicians have started writing music about the dangers of it. For their personal debut album, DEFECTS pour their heart and soul into making it. It is something that cannot be replaced by a machine.
“My approach to the vocals on the album was trying to portray that real emotion in the lyrics that had been written, as well as reflecting the time it had been written,” Tony explains. “I tried to push myself on this record in a way that has definitely pushed myself out of my comfort zone.”
Harry says that he got into drumming through metal music, and Modern Error gave him the opportunity to go back to his roots and do what he wanted to do. “It felt really nice to run free with it,” he says. “There’s a running theme of us trying to push ourselves,” Tony says, whilst Luke adds, “it’s good we have the same influences as well, because then we know where we’re going.”
At first, the album was a ten-track album, but soon evolved into thirteen songs as the band continued writing. “We had a few lighter, rockier songs on the album, but we got the opportunity to bring some more to the table. It was a tough choice, because we had some choruses and riffs in the past that were good, but it might fit the record after this one. It doesn’t mean that those songs are shelved forever. Broken Bloodlines was one of those songs,” Tony elaborates.
The band have gone all out on their debut album. End Of Days has a self-described ‘bouncy riff’, which Luke says was “inspired by djent. It was the first time we used a different key for a chorus, and it just worked, so it became the basis of the intro and the outro riff of the song.”
“They’re very similar, but the drumbeat changes entirely in the outro, which is what gives the riff the bounce,” Tony adds.
The online world inspired the song Dream Awake, which was written during the COVID lockdown. “We’re all on our phones all the time,” Tony explains, “so the song is about this universe where we are strictly online. Even though we can go and live in the real world, we’re so focused on living digitally, that we forget who we are. Dream Awake is about remembering how to live in the real world and not focusing on a digital footprint.”
As the world seems to be approaching a more digitised existence, this image of living entirely online looks more likely than ever, so having songs such as Dream Awake is important. But the album isn’t all doom and gloom. The closing song Gone To Waste “closed the album really nicely as the rest of the album is so intense,” Luke explains.
Harry agrees, saying, “musically, it ends on such an epic and beautiful note. For me, it just sounds like albums that I loved growing up that had a really epic last song that really makes their mark. It has Tony stepping up vocally, and the guitars are going a bit wild. But then it ends with a really calming and cleaner guitar tone. For me, it ends the album how it should be ended.”
Tony says that when it was being written, it wasn’t intended to be for everything. “Obviously, it has some similarities to Dream Awake, but the melodies are quite different in the chorus, and it just seemed to work as an ending. It was a track that I had written for myself as I was feeling quite crap during the whole COVID thing and being isolated. It was a way of getting it out on a canvas. Obviously, it is a very dark song, but it worked well, especially with the rocky and atmospheric vibe that it had. It was a good way to close the album.”
It is also a great end to the multiple stories that it is telling, covering topics such as the digital age, but mostly looking at things in society that have gone wrong. The title of Modern Error – as well as the title track – encompasses the bullet points that the band talk about, covering greed, using our resources, and is a warning to humanity about what will happen if the people who hold the keys to the things in the world that destroy the planet.
“Each song touches on something different,” Tony explains. “I think we did a good job of doing that by capturing the rawness of each subject in those songs. We’re really proud of this album and what it stands for.”
Modern Error is out now via Mascot Records.
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