PRIMITIVE MAN return with their most crushing album to date, Observance. After twelve years at the forefront of underground music, PRIMITIVE MAN takes merciless aim at the plentiful ills that besiege the world around them, and in the process of doing so do not spare themselves from their flagellating tongue-lashings.
With motifs and symbols recurring throughout the lyrics and artwork (also created by McCarthy), and drawing influence from the work of Tongo Eisen-Martin - specifically Blood on the Fog - McCarthy doesn’t offer answers, he only seeks to share his experiences. Personal and professional pitfalls are explored against the backdrop of a broken social contract that is decimating the lives of working class citizens. While party politics dominate the media, a more insidious divide preoccupies McCarthy as he is haunted by techno feudalism and the future of human rights and social unrest.
Whilst McCarthy’s lyrics are a dominant presence throughout Observance, the six songs that make up the album are a truly collaborative effort written and arranged with absolute devotion. Drummer Joe Linden, bassist Jon Campos and McCarthy threw themselves into writing shortly after the release of 2022’s Insurmountable EP. Committing to the task at hand, the trio describe themselves as “obsessed” during the genesis of Observance; the intricacies of shaping their evolving, trance-inducing sound became all-consuming.
