Sprain - Searching for God in the Noise

Contacted via email, singer Alex Kent answered our questions about the creative process behind “The Lamb As Effigy“, one of the most surprising albums of 2023 in the field of experimental rock. Starting from the differences with the previous album, “As Lost Through Collision” (2020), and an analysis of the lyrics, the conversation moved on to honesty, cinema, and a possible landing in Italy.

“The Lamb As Effigy” is one of this year’s surprises. Thanks to its intensity and uniqueness, it feels perfect for those looking for a demanding listening experience. It’s not your first album, though: “As Lost Through Collision” came out in 2020 and was something completely different. From your point of view, what are the elements of continuity between the two albums, and the main differences?

Thanks for the kind words. I feel like “Lamb” is the continuation and expansion of the foundations we laid with “Collision”, on which we also discovered new paths and sounds along the way. I think it’s a much more unique album, and a huge springboard for us in discovering “our sound”. It still has the same style of interwoven double guitar lines, minimal progressions, and songs with structures that test your patience, but pushed to the extreme and expanded. “Lamb” was recorded with a completely different drummer, Clint Dodson, who added a lot of potential to what we could do rhythmically and percussively. Songs like “Margin For Error” and “God, Or Anyway You Call It” wouldn’t have been possible without his creative input. We also added a lot more instrumental variety, including keyboards, organs, bells, vibraphone, musical saw, hammered psaltery, and much more. I challenged myself to expand my vocal range on this record, whereas on previous releases I played it safe. Overall, “The Lamb As Effigy” is everything the first record should have been, but couldn’t be at that time.

“The Lamb As Effigy” is a long, complex listen. The lyrics sometimes seem impenetrable. What are the main themes of the lyrics? Did you write them all yourself, or are other band members involved in the writing?

I’d say the main themes of the lyrics are shame, sexuality, and spirituality/religion. There are thousands of threads branching off from those three, but those are the main ones. I’m the only band member who writes the lyrics, although sometimes I steal little ideas from the other members while they’re talking to each other…

One of the posts on your Facebook page points out that the album is “honest”. Why is that so important to you?

I felt the need to point that out because of how diligently we worked on this record. We put an enormous amount of time, energy, and money into it, and I never wanted the length or density of the record to be perceived as some kind of “grand statement” or any other bullshit like that. The record is what it is because that’s what it is, born purely for the joy of making music, with no other motive. We created something we felt was sincere, and there were no further motivations behind it. Unfortunately, I regret that statement now because it sounds like overcompensation or a display of insecurity, and maybe it was, at the time. Maybe it had the opposite effect… oh well. You never stop learning.

The album has another title, “Three Hundred and Fifty XOXOXOS For A Spark Union With My Darling Divine”. While “The Lamb As Effigy” sounds reflective, dramatic, and esoteric, “Three Hundred And Fifty XOXOXOS For A Spark Union With My Darling Divine” sounds sarcastic. Is it a kind of ironic contrast?

There’s a certain humor in our band that I think gets underestimated, but we’re definitely not ironic. We’re certainly sarcastic, but never ironic. I’ve always admired artists who manage to be vulnerable and seem uncool over those who came across as cool or ironic. Obviously I’m over-generalizing, but you get what I mean. I feel like irony, especially in this day and age, is used almost like a crutch or a shield against criticism, especially online, where there’s no real consequence to acting like an asshole. Anyone who shows vulnerability through their music gets mocked for it, especially online, but you can dodge that criticism entirely if you don’t really mean anything you’re communicating, if everything is ironic. I talk about this a lot with my friend Kyle Bates (Drowse), whose music is almost painful in how vulnerable it is, and who’s able to express this particular zeitgeist more eloquently than I can. Overall, I personally feel we're very vulnerable and bare, even to the point of discomfort, and never ironic, though not entirely without a sense of humor. The alternate title of our record has a specific meaning, but I don’t like revealing the meaning behind my work. I’d rather people interpret it however they prefer.

Reviewers like me often try to suggest similar artists to readers, to help them imagine what a song or a whole album sounds like. For “The Lamb As Effigy” a few names come to my mind, but I’d like to know which names come to your mind.

It's none of my business who we get compared to or which artists people think we sound like. There's a ton of names that get thrown around, most of which I've either never heard or that haven't influenced us in any way. I'd say one of the more accurate ones people mention are Swans, who we all genuinely love and consider a huge inspiration, but I also think we're a very, very different band from them. The same goes for This Heat, Xiu Xiu, Gastr Del Sol, Unwound, etc. Sprain wouldn't be Sprain without these bands, but we're also making music that's entirely our own. It feels rude to bring up other bands in an interview that we're not actually inspired by, so I'll refrain from doing that, but sometimes people will say we sound like band A, B or C and I've never even listened to them! I guess that's just how it goes. I respect those artists, they're doing their thing and we're doing ours. We just don't draw inspiration from them.

The cover suggests a passion for contemporary art. Besides other musicians, what other art forms inspire your music?

I'd say the most important inspiration for me is cinema. I can never get enough of films, some of my favorite directors are Bela Tarr, Tsai Ming Liang, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Larisa Shepitko... the list could go on forever. I find it really comfortable to draw inspiration from an art form I actually know nothing about, and I like being able to enjoy a film without thinking about how it was made. I can be completely absorbed by it, in a way that's sometimes impossible for me with music. Aside from that, everyone in the band loves visual art, video games and literature, even though I'm not really an expert in any art form.

I read on your Facebook page that writing a song sometimes took a few years. Considering the album runs almost 100 minutes, did you ever think about splitting it into two, releasing later the songs that were harder to finish?

Absolutely not! I feel like the project is connected thematically, all the songs related to one another in some way. Maybe it's not an immediately catchy or accessible record on first listen, and maybe some would see the length as a flaw, but it doesn't have to win you over right away. It'll be there waiting for you, whenever you're ready. I really don't like the idea of splitting it in two, even if it would speed up our creative process. I'd rather wait a bit and do things the right way than rush them... There was also a huge amount of "life obstacles" that came up during the making of this record. These obstacles delayed the work so many times that the gap between the debut and this follow-up ended up stretching out unintentionally. We were working on it constantly, never a day off!

It's not so easy to picture these songs performed on a stage. Are you considering playing "The Lamb As Effigy" in full live, or will you only play a few songs? And what kind of venue best suits your music?

We're not picky, and we're a very niche band. We're just as happy playing a DIY basement show as we are playing a big theater with a great sound system. They're two very different experiences, but in our eyes they carry equal value. Getting to play live is a privilege, and we're happy to play anywhere there's someone willing to put up with us! We've substantially rearranged the songs for live performance, sometimes so much that they sound different from the recorded versions. That's what it takes to play these songs live, since they'd be nearly impossible to perform [as recorded] with a band with our budget and our limitations, but I like the challenge of reworking the songs for live versions. To me, it keeps them alive. We have live versions of every song on the record, but sometimes the venue and the sound system force us to rethink the setlist. It's something that changes at every show.

Any hopes of seeing you live in Europe, or even in Italy, in the coming months?

I can't promise anything, but I'd say the odds are good!

The second album is very different from the first. Do you think the third will be more similar to this one?

Ideally, the third album will be different from all the other music we've made! I'd say that, based on what we've done so far, it'll sound more like "Lamb" than "Collision", but it won't be all that similar to either one.

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