The Presets – ‘Anywhere’

Like many self-congratulating Sydney-siders, I always smile when I hear of The Presets’ international success, especially in the UK market where they have NME rolling around in epileptic fits over their completely unique brand of goth-electro. And that’s just the thing; inasmuch as Kimberly Moyes and Julian Hamilton have been tagged as the frontrunners of the ecstasy-swallowing, fluoro generation, they always had a lot more going on. As two Conservatorium of Music graduates, Hamilton and Moyes used ‘The Presets’ moniker as a way of venting their dark creative ideas in a dance-based atmosphere, just as rap superstar Pharrell Williams has admitted to creating N*E*R*D* as an outlet for his rock influences. And make no mistake about it, The Presets are as dark and morbid as they come. The fact that they cloak this chasm of despair in grungy, pounding house tracks only serves to add extra credibility to their cause; for every cat who really gets it there’s twenty kids on MDMA who just want to jump around. I know this because I’ve been both. But then Apocalypso dropped this year and the world changed forever. Because The Presets hadn’t just created a brilliant album, brimming with savage hooks and vicious bass-lines, but rather they ushered in a new musical revolution in Australia and indeed around the world. It only takes one listen to ‘My People’, the party anthem they play to Stalin in hell, to see the Presets’ grand plan in motion. It’s Nirvana for the Facebook generation, and if you listen closely, you’ll start to unravel just how screwed up the universe really is.

‘Anywhere’ is the closer to the new album, and the problem with final tracks is two-fold. Firstly, they’re usually the best, wackiest musical ideas which management wouldn’t allow the artist to put higher in the track-listing (for fear of public backlash), and secondly, they often reflect the mood of the album as a whole far better than radio singles ever could. You can find both of these qualities is ‘Anywhere’, a minimalist piece completely devoid of the Presets’ usual studio flamboyance, relying predominantly on an ominous pedal bass/drum combo which echoes all those great comedown cuts you hear at clubs when the lights go on at 7am. But there’s no messages of peace and love here; instead we get Julian waxing lyrical about things getting darker, louder and stronger and generally implying that the party is about to get its’ second wind. But then the killer hits “Surprise, surprise, you’re on your own.” This jarring insight into the transience of nightlife and the complete surrender of vulnerable individuals to techno music is fresh, original and completely necessary.

The song builds into a six minute opus, with a complete synth explosion heralding the point of realisation that I can safely say is one of the first moments in dance music where my heart has skipped a beat and I felt a lump in my throat. And yes, I’ve seen Armin Van Buuren. What gets me about the Presets is that they can turn on the intensity when the occasion calls for it but then sit back and watch it all fall to pieces with the measured coolness of musicians way beyond their years. Cut Copy, Van She and hell even Justice, take note. This is how real musos work with Macbooks.

The Presets – ‘Anywhere’

You simply must see this video clip of ‘My People’. Being on drugs helps, we hear.

The Presets’ Myspace