Disaster Fantasy have shared their new EP ‘Girl Machine’ in full.
The project is, on paper, vastly ambitious – two musicians from different worlds, separated by the width of the Atlantic Ocean. Somehow traversing the divide between Kansas City and Brighton, the duo make it work, overhauling the synth-pop template from different perspectives.
New EP ‘Girl Machine’ shows how their mutual experiences can intertwine into something unique and whole. Constructed as 2023 breathed its last, sessions stretched into the opening weeks of the New Year, and it’s marked by this tension between releasing the old, and grappling with the new.
Disaster Fantasy – vocalist Ryann Donnelly (Schoolyard Heroes) and multi-instrumentalist Byron Kalet (Journal of Popular Noise, Popular Noise Records) – worked in tandem, their pop instincts marked by an artful approach.
The EP was mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac), and there’s a real sonic heft to their studio constructions.
Ryann adds:
We recorded this EP over five days as we crossed from the end of 2023 into the beginning of 2024, in what would be a powerful creative moment. We live in totally different parts of the world and that was all the time we had to record, so it’s laced with a sense of urgency, creative risk and play, and bears nods to our musical pasts, while striving to define the sound of this new record.
For Byron, the experience of recording was focused and potent. There are somehow robots, Hollywood legends, and sorcery, packed onto this five-song project, but it’s grappling with some universal themes from love to loss, to partying in Paris. Musical influences included classics such as Roxy Music, Gary Numan, Iggy Pop, Amanda Lear and Human League. But also took inspiration from more modern releases like LCD Soundsystem, Nation of Language, St Vincent, Teleman, Mildlife, and Miss Grit.
Tune in now.
Photo Credit: Abbey Raymonde
