Moscow Youth Cult - Brutalist (2018)

London-based electronic music duo Moscow Youth Cult release their second album, Brutalist, through Hello Thor Records and I OWN YOU Records on Friday 28 September 2018.

The fifteen tracks of Brutalist showcase Moscow Youth Cult’s woozy, kaleidoscopic electronica – one minute lush, warm and shimmering; the next claustrophobic, stark and austere. Like the architectural style with which the album shares its name, Brutalist is bold, expressionist, textural and frequently monumental.

Moscow Youth Cult is Jon Dix and Dan O'Donnell-Smith, who formed the band when they collaborated on an electronic sound installation for GameCity – Europe’s biggest video games cultural festival – to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the analogue video game Elite.

Brutalist finds Jon and Dan negotiating their way through a difficult landscape of uncertain futures, both personal and political. Dreamy soundscapes and off-kilter euphoria soundtrack lyrical explorations of profound unease, of change and of loss.

Moscow Youth Cult songs have appeared on the cult US comedy series Portlandia and the hit video game Saints Row IV. In 2016, three of the band’s songs were featured in Ben Williams’ BAFTA nominated feature film The Pass.

Moscow Youth Cult’s association with Nottingham-based DIY record labels Hello Thor Records and I OWN YOU Records goes back many years and takes in Halloween parties, VHS video nasties, gigs in fake TV studios, Italian zombie films and a silent disco in a library. We couldn’t be happier to finally be collaborating together to bring the world Brutalist.

All of the songs on Brutalist are written, performed and produced by Moscow Youth Cult. Dream Console is mixed by John Sampson (CJ Mirra, Swimming). Aaron Doyle (Cantaloupe, Flourishes) played drums on Makes Never Myth, Beyond the Black Veil and Hospice.