VIDEO: I Speak Machine Releases New Single 'War'

I Speak Machine, the experimental music act and audio-visual project of musician Tara Busch, is excited to present the music video for "WAR," the title track and latest single to be lifted from the Friday, April 22 release of their brand new full-length album, WAR (pre-order).

Following the release of "The Metal of My Hell," WAR's powerful and industrial-tinged lead single, "WAR" is a song that was written in 2017 during a dark moment in this country's history.

"So it's 2017, Trump was 'elected', and we were surrounded by rednecks and conservatives, racists and bigots all being the worst possible versions of themselves," Busch recalls. "This song was probably written the fastest out of them all, in a state of shock after Trump's 'very fine people on both sides' comment regarding the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.

The choruses also referenced my internal war with addiction ("and now we fight / because it's war") and always feeling at odds with oneself. Watch the music video for "WAR," directed by Maf Lewis, below.

Created with filmmaker and collaborator Maf Lewis and co-produced with Dean Honer (Roísín Murphy, Add N To (X)), WAR is a collection of Busch's most visceral, confrontational and honest music yet. Taking four years to complete, WAR allowed Busch to push herself into new, unfamiliar territories in her synth-based songwriting, while also returning to the immediate, aggressive spirit of her past life in rock.

The Trump presidency was a looming presence, which prompted Busch to explore not only the country's sinister political atmosphere but the turmoil that was raging in her own life - she was emerging from an alcohol addiction while battling with trauma and panic attacks that sometimes left her bedridden.

Exploring the world of music technology, vintage synthesizers and production for over a decade, the genesis of I Speak Machine was in 2013 when musician Tara Busch produced a live score for filmmaker Maf Lewis' debut short horror film, The Silence. From there, a personal and professional relationship developed, leading to the formation of the audio-visual project.

Now based in LA, Busch remotely co-produced the forthcoming WAR with Sheffield- based Dean Honer (Roísín Murphy, Add N To (X)). For years, she had worked alone, releasing albums with on seminal record labels Lex Records in London and Tummy Touch Records in New York, feeling pressured to prove that she could be self-reliant as a female artist. It was a freeing choice to allow another voice into the project - particularly Honer, whom Busch had long admired for his work with Add N To (X).

"I felt like, 'f it. I don't feel like I need to answer anybody for wanting to work with a producer again. Bowie did it. The Beatles did it. They sure as hell weren't editing drum takes like I was'. But women are set to different standards; it's a million times more difficult to be taken seriously if you are a woman in this field, and I wanted to say 'f you' to that." From their respective sides of the Atlantic, the duo worked with an impressive armory of gear - Busch with her Roland 808, ARP 2600, and Oberheim Two Voice, and Honer on Synthi AKS, Polivoks, and Minimoog.

The album opens on title track "WAR," where with darkly danceable synths Busch creates a rousing battle song. Elsewhere, the defiant "Beat Down By Heaven" and the haunting "Dirty Soul" utilize some of the album's grimiest synth sounds to face the spectre of Busch's childhood in the Catholic church head-on. "No record about mental turmoil would be complete without a prod to the ribs of Catholicism," she says. Of the latter song, she expands: "I wanted to sing about the painful yet delightful yet embarrassing yet weirdly satisfying breakdown of when the facade of religion cracks, piece by piece. If I have what is considered a 'filthy heart' by the Catholic church, I must be doing something right."

After 11 tracks that are at once exhilarating and exhausting, ultimately, I Speak Machine come home victors. "This album feels like a culmination of all the different voices and mistakes and fun things I've done over my career," Busch sums up. "This album dove into some really, really dark s in my life that I felt could be minimized and put in perspective a bit if I sang about it. I wanted to do something that was just through my eyes and not anyone else's. The big thing was just trying to not give a f and get rid of inhibitions. And I wanted to shout my head off a little bit too."

Watch the new music video here:

Tour Dates

Mar. 02 - Austin, TX - Emo's
Mar. 03 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec
Mar. 04 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
Mar. 05 - Houston, TX - Numbers
Mar. 07 - Nashville, TN - Basement East
Mar. 08 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
Mar. 09 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
Mar. 11 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
Mar. 12 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
Mar. 13 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
Mar. 14 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
Mar. 15 - Washington DC - Lincoln Theater
Mar. 17 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
Mar. 18 - Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird Music Hall
Mar. 19 - Detroit, MI - El Club (Early & Late show)
Mar. 21 - Chicago, IL - Park West
Mar. 22 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
Mar. 23 - Minneapolis, MI - First Avenue
Mar. 24 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
Mar. 25 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theater
Mar. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
Mar. 28 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall
Mar. 29 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
Mar. 30 - Tacoma, WA - Spanish Ballroom
Mar. 31 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theater
Apr. 02 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
Apr. 03 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst
Apr. 04 - Pentaluma, CA - Mystic Theater
​Apr. 05 - Ventura, CA - Ventura Music Hall

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