Aversions’ Empty Century Confronts the Anxiety of ‘Trending Towards Nothing’
Aversions. Photo credit: Sol Kauffman.
Vancouver-based post-punk band Aversions recently released their new record, Empty Century. The record will undoubtedly appeal to fans of ’80s style music with its dark and immersive atmosphere, expansive sound and catchy goth-tinged punky textures. Recently, I chatted with Sam Coll (frontman/guitarist), Chad Devlin (bassist/backing vocalist), and Joe Ross (drummer) about their new record, Empty Century.
“We’re down a member from the last record, and that forced us to switch things up in terms of our songwriting process, how the music is coming across, and how we’re executing it live,” explains Coll. “In the process of that change, we decided just to fold in a few more influences into our songwriting. A big one on the record is more of a goth-tinged, edged post-punk. Bands like Killing Joke, Bauhaus, and even Siouxsie and the Banshees that influence has made its way in. It was fun allowing ourselves to play with that sound, which had not previously been in our material.”
“We had originally agreed that it was gonna be an album that we were gonna be pretty meticulous about and Sam was gonna take a bit more of a producer role in it,” adds Ross. “It was really purposeful and intentional. It’s another step for us. I think it’s definitely a progression on the older material.”
Empty Century.
Being more meticulous really helped Aversions define the structure and sound of Empty Century. “We really tried to pull together material that worked together in a way I don’t think we’ve done before,” comments Coll. “Hopefully, the listening experience is the most cohesive that we’ve had to date.”
“I think the drums and bass sound better than on our past albums,” reflects Devlin. “I mean, the guitars sound great too, but I think the drums and the bass in particular are a huge step forward.”
One of the big themes of Empty Century is the rise and discourse centred around AI. “I work in tech, and my sister also works in tech, but a lot higher up in the food chain than I do,” shares Coll. “She is sort of deeply embedded in these sort of AI projects. We actually disagree on a lot of things around it. I’m a little more skeptical of the technology. Having it be a big part of my life and what everyone around me always talks about, so it is something I think a lot about. It ended up being a big theme in the lyrics and the song content.”
Empty Century was selected as the title of the record, as Aversions thought it encapsulated the overall vibe of the record and reflected what is currently happening in creative spaces in the world. “We see a lot of watering down of creative output in general and just the culture at large,” explains Coll. “There seems to be this, it sounds cliché to say, but there seems to be a lot of trending towards nothing. If it keeps on the way it is going, who knows what the rest of the century is going to be like.”
“Base Case” was written in the spur of the moment. “I think we were doing an exercise where we were just coming up with the first thing that came to our mind on the spot,” recalls Devlin. “I started playing that bass line and everything kind of fell together.”
Initially, the super catchy backing vocals in “Base Case” was not in the song. “It’s kind of meant to be a counterpoint, and I think we added that vocal in the studio because that always felt like we needed to add something else there,” states Coll. “The song is about this AI turn and the race to the bottom of the whole thing that it represents. I think that voice represents the ghost in the shell or the spirit in the machine, so to speak.”
Adding the backing vocals in for “Base Case” was one of the highlights for Ross. “Moments like that in the album are my favourite,” he says. “When that part was added at the very end of the process, I was really excited and happy about it. I’m pretty happy with how all the songs turned out, but I think I like that in particular.”
Aversions. Photo credit: Sol Kauffman.
Another song that had a late addition to it in the studio was the piano part in “The Cockroach.” “Sometimes when I’m just hearing stuff back like a lot of musicians, I’m just like ‘I want to hear something else there,’” comments Coll. “I’m not much of a keyboard player, but there are always keyboards on all of our recordings because I just can’t help myself. You just come up with whatever you’re capable of coming up with in the short time frame.”
Aversions incorporates some interesting audio samples on the record, like in the songs “Water Discipline” and “Division Theory.” These samples are used very effectively and do a nice job adding to the texture and atmosphere of the songs. “We’re just big fans of using the whole sonic landscape, especially in something like an album project,” explains Coll. “As the vocalist, I don’t want the listener just to have to listen to me. Sometimes you still want some human component. Samples are really effective for that.”
Additionally, the wicked intro for “Division Theory” is something that the band spent a lot of time working on. "I'm a big fan of that intro," shares Devlin. "I like how the sample came into play and how it just warps you into the song, and it all kind of dissipates and goes into the actual song."
“I really like the desaturated tape effect that we added to that part, and when it floats into the main part of the verse,” comments Coll. “I like that expansion of sound.”
“Not From Around,” the closing track of Empty Century, was almost left off the record. “We actually debated leaving that song off the album altogether because there are a few long songs on there and we tend not to play a lot of those in general,” shares Coll. Eventually, Aversions decided to keep it on the record, and they were glad that they did. “It felt like a good closer with the way it comes in and the way it goes out.”
Incorporating longer songs into the mix, like “Not From Around,” allowed Aversions to expand their sonic palette and experiment a bit more as well. “The longer songs allow for more moments of repetition and maybe some subtle dynamics as opposed to some of our other songs that are a bit shorter and more punchy and maybe don’t have the space for that,” comments Ross.
Aversions have a handful of shows to promote their new record. The band is very excited to be on the road and sharing their new music with fans. “We put a lot of work in this tour,” comments Devlin. “We’re excited to see some friends on the road who we’re playing with – It will be great to reconnect there.”
“Our friend’s bands absolutely rip, so why not keep playing with them as much as we can until they get sick of us,” smiles Coll.