Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Death From Above 1979, Universal Music 2021.
Death From Above is a Canadian rock duo consisting of bassist Jesse F Keeler and drummer and vocalist Sebastien Grainger who both they reside in Toronto.
They formed in 2001 and released their debut album You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine in 2004 but broke up in 2006.
They reformed again in 2011 and released their second album,The Physical World in 2014 and followed that with two more albums, Outrage is Now (2017) and their latest, Is 4 Lovers, in 2021.
Free Animal is the second single released from Is 4 Lovers following on from One + One and so far, both songs have attracted attention from the music press.
The album has generally been favourably reviewed with both Allmusic and NME giving it a four-star rating with Andrew Trendell writing for the latter describing Is 4 Lovers as the best album that the duo has produced since their debut.
Death From Above 1979 play what has often been described as Dance Punk; Free Animal is built around a wicked distorted guitar riff that worms its way into the brain.
Grainger’s drumming is powerful and insistent and his singing pushes the edges of manic/deranged.
It’s a powerful single.
The download that I got included the original track and two remixes, the first by JFK MSTRKRFT + Shelley Johannson gives an entirely different interpretation of the song that takes it solidly out of the punk and into dance/trance territory.
The second from Romes takes the song in an alternative/indie direction.
The three versions couldn’t be further apart which is quite unusual for remixes that often pay substantial homage to the original.
This says a lot about the boys from Death From Above 1979 who obviously gave a free hand to the remixes to see what they could do.
My favourite version was definitely the original which is unbelievably catchy. That guitar hook really got its barbs into me.
