Ex-Rental is the fractured post-punk solo project of Sydney’s Jack De Lacy (Concrete Lawn, Australian Idol).

An engineer working for a US mining giant re-purposed the mathematical principles of seismic data processing to invent AutoTune. Singing, once only possible through organic and humanly imperfect means, can be manipulated and warped, in extreme cases without human original at all. That distancing, the arbitrary connection between the physical body and the final product is the subject of Sydney producer Ex-Rental’s debut album.

“In a world of collapsing environments, the tender act of singing necessarily turns the chaos of geo-politics onto the body”

wound_carry_(reach_for_the_stars) is a post-punk aural essay written from the cross-roads “of identity, the internet, technology and redundant-bodies”. It has an intense frenetic energy, refracting experimental vocals against a soundscape of synth lines & 909 drums. The outcome is visceral but also deliberate – a considered critique of the role of bodies and music in the technological age.

Despite the serious art-school intellectualism underpinning the LP, some tracks are still laden with irony and humour. The juxtaposition and playful sentimentality of the Simpsons sample in ‘Ransomware’ takes you by surprise, and collaborations with endworld1000000000, MLDVR and My Dad Is Car balance complex content with club-readiness.

_wound_carry_(reach_for_the_stars) is out now via Perfume Counter Records.

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