"Moody, cinematic, and incredibly well-constructed" is how All Music Guide described British electronic-backboned band HYBRID, and the accuracy of that description touches on every point of their brand new single and video "Flashpoint" which premiered this week on FLOOD MAGAZINE.
"''Flashpoint' is the first track from our sixth album and our first single and video to set the tone and story of where this latest album will take you" explains vocalist/songwriter Charlotte Truman. "It's a sum of all of our strengths as a four-piece band but draws heavily on our legacy of heavy beats together with the sound of a band that's been mangled through all the studio toys we can get our hands on."
Pulsating and propulsive with orchestral flourishes that are a trademark of Hybrid's music, "Flashpoint" harkens back to electorock's heyday while maintaining a very contemporary rhythm and urgency. "Stu Morgan [guitars/vocals] frequently channels Jimi Hendrix and came up with the epic riff in the song and our drummer Simon Hanson added the military beats and gonzo drum fills and stomp to the track," Truman explains.
The band's eye-opening "Flashpoint" video is a sci-fi mini-film of multiplex proportions. With the cinematic music driving the narrative forward, the video captures the storyline that recalls Jonathan Glazer's stylish otherworldly thriller Under the Skin and Alex Garland's Annihilation while remaining loosely impressionistic. "Mike [Truman, sound design/producer] and I shot the video ourselves as we've been fascinated and thrilled by cinema since we were teenagers and have been making our own shorts for over a decade," she muses. "Granted, filming a video during lockdown was a bit of a challenge but we made use of every possible local location that we could. No farmers were maimed or injured during the making of this film, although one of them was concerned that our smoke effect was actually us setting their barn on fire!"
A deep emotional narrative runs through all Hybrid music. You can sense it in Charlotte's stirring songwriting and vocals, you can hear it in Mike's formidable sound design and production, you can tangibly feel it in the drama, tension and release of the arrangements. Their upcoming album (planned for release later this year) is the best example of this so far. Largely written during the turbulence of 2020, the album celebrates the perseverance and triumph of the human spirit. No matter what life throws at us, we thrive and survive. To enhance this narrative even more, and join further dots between their love of music and the big screen, they've created three conceptual videos with writer/novelist James Scudamore and actor Edmund Kingsley. Weaving sci-fi themes with the stark, hard-hitting reality of the 21st century, Hybrid's visual fusion is just palpable as the music itself.
Originally formed in 1995 at the height of the UK-led Breakbeat era, Hybrid became leaders of an electronic movement that encompassed a dizzying litany of pinch-yourself moments and accomplishments, including collaborations and credits with luminaries as far-ranging as Cypress Hill, Perry Farrell and Hooky from New Order. With band mates Stu Morgan (guitars and bass) and Simon Hanson (drums) they continue to take their art to incredible places through speakers, stage and screen. And at the heart of it all is simply this: powerful storytelling.
Hybrid is Charlotte Truman (vocals, piano, synths, guitar), Mike Truman (sound design, producer), Stu Morgan (vocals, guitars, bass), and Simon Hanson (drums, percussion, backing vocals). "Flashpoint" is available now digitally on Distinctive Records.
