Kristeen Young takes aim at the emptiness of capitalism and our tendency to measure value through numbers on ‘Numbers’, the second single from forthcoming album Full Scrotal Scorpio. There’s no subtle approach here: sirens announce its arrival before an eruption of piano sends the track hurtling into its wonderfully disorientating world.
That piano is the star. Pounding, wonky, repetitive and faintly jazzy, it creates a dark, menacing groove while Jefferson Wayne “Baby Jef” White’s huge, frantic drums add an almost mechanical force underneath. There are traces of industrial rock in the dissonance, but ‘Numbers’ ultimately proves difficult to pin down beyond the broadest art-rock label — something that feels entirely appropriate for Young. Rather than settling into conventional melody, the track thrives on friction, repetition and unpredictability.
Young’s performance is just as uncompromising. Whispered chants give way to theatrical yelps, howls and guttural calls, delivered with an angry, confrontational energy that frequently tips towards the primal. It’s manic and deliberately uncomfortable, turning ‘Numbers’ into less of a neatly packaged protest song and more of a visceral rejection of the systems it rails against.
