Parastatic announce new album "Concrete Reborn"

Parastatic are back with their third album, and their first new music in ten years - since the release of “Recall Fade Return” in 2015. The new record, “Concrete Reborn” inspired by their fascination with Brutalist architecture, will be out 21st February on Workie Ticket Records. Representing an evolution of sound where post-rock and shoegaze congregate.

Parastatic are three friends from the North East of England with a love for Krautrock, shoegaze and post-rock music. Since their birth in 2010 they have sporadically released music that fuses motorik grooves with thumping synths and magical guitar sounds. “Concrete Reborn” features the addition of a spoken word performance from Valencia-born, Newcastle-based artist, Late Girl.

Normally a band of very few words, but with Late Girl’s contribution the record evokes a sense of the magisterial, monolithic power of brutalist buildings and shines a light on aspects of the movement from the raw materials on A building is a weapon; the imagined lives going on behind the concrete on (Dancing to) A modernist beat; the public disdain for the style on Tear it down, or the leading lights of the movement on Assembly. The epic nearly-10-minute title track Concrete Reborn is the ultimate celebration of the movement's ethos of balancing function and form. Lead single With intent imagines brutalist buildings as entities with agency and intention, for the betterment of society.

Check out the video for With Intent below:

Having spent a year as artist in residence at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Late Girl contributed their spoken word performance across the record which is sometimes haunting, other times ferocious and always intriguing. As well as enlisting the talents of Late Girl, 2023 saw original drummer Jonnie Halling return to the band after 10 years playing with The Angelic Upstarts.

“We’re dead proud of this one. We’ve had a few bumps on the road getting there but the result is something we’re all thrilled with. Getting Late Girl was a real coup as we’ve admired her work for so long.” Says guitarist, Jon Garrard. “We first saw her years ago and rushed to book her as support on our next show. Since then we’ve played together loads and collaborated at a show a few years ago. We love the extra dimension her vocals add to these songs. We’re also totally buzzing to have Jonnie back in the band - recording his drum parts have given the songs a bit of a harder edge which totally suits the direction we were going in and you can really visualise the buildings that the songs are celebrating.”

Concrete Reborn has been a labour of love for Parastatic with Sam Grant (Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs) who recorded, mixed and mastered the album, at Blank Studios in their hometown of Newcastle.

Tour dates:
Friday 21 February - Todmorden, Golden Lion
Saturday 22 February - Stockton-on-Tees, The Green Room
Tuesday 25 February - Brighton, The Prince Albert
Wednesday 26 February - London, Strong Room Bar, Shoreditch,
Thursday 27 February - Manchester, The Eagle Inn –Salford
Friday 28 February - Leeds, The Packhorse
Saturday 1 March - Newcastle, Star & Shadow Cinema

Parastatic are:
Jon Garrard - guitar
Jonnie Halling - drums and percussion
Neil Caffery - guitar, synths

“Total obliteration of the senses guaranteed.” NME

“'Recall Fade Return' is a damn fine album, an album of diverse colour and texture, skilfully woven into a warm expansive soundscape.” Louder Than War

“The kind of propulsive, joyous, trancelike music that bundles up the likes of Neu! The Orb and Spiritualized into one pulsating whole…a cloud-scraping slab of motorik bliss which feels like the band have managed to bottle the essence of the sun coming up in the morning.” Crack

“’Recall Fade Return’ is going to be held in high regard by a lot of people…and deservedly so.” Echoes and Dust

“Gorgeous, Excellent stuff.” Lauren Laverne, 6 Music

“Like New Order going through a prog phase.” Steve Lamacq, 6 Music