Dark electronic post-rock artist from the UK, PHIL STILES, also known as the frontman for Final Coil, announces the premiere of his brand new music video for End This Way. The video also coincides with the official launch of The Anchorhold, his debut full-length album, released through Trepanation Recordings and available now on all major streaming platforms and also in physical formats through Bandcamp.
Phil speaks of the track and video:
End This Way is probably the closest track on the album to the trip hop influenced elements of The Anchorite and it made sense to produce this particular piece without a collaborator. Musically (for me at least), it sits somewhere between Massive Attack and Gary Numan and, because it had a more traditional chorus than I typically write, I thought it would make a strong choice for a single.
Written in the midst of the lockdown, the lyric was influenced by Rebecca Rideal’s 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire. In the book, Rebecca describes how a number of individuals, once infected with the plague and sealed within their home, would lean out of the windows to breathe on passers by in the hope of inflicting their fate on others. Given that I was reading the book at the same time as the newspapers were reporting incidents of people spitting at each other at the height of the pandemic, the parallel was impossible to ignore and so I set about trying to get into the mindset of someone so vindictive that they would either intentionally infect another human being, or at least give the impression that they had. It shows, if nothing else, that the lessons of history are ignored at our peril.
In all honesty, although I find the topic fascinating, it was not an easy mentality to adopt, and yet I can’t help but feel that such behaviour reflects a wider malaise in society. Driven by the fiercely neoliberal agenda that has dominated the eco-political discourse since the late 1970s, a selfishness has emerged in large sections of the population where self-interest is placed above all else. How else can you explain the bitter desire to inflict your own misery upon total strangers? Indeed, even now, there are businesses every day having to put out social media notices asking their customers to be kind – a reflection of the current mentality that makes you want to lock yourself away for another year. There are days when the darkness seems insurmountable and, in that context, the chorus’ cry of “I can’t end this way” could just as easily refer to the adoption of such a mindset as it could to dying, isolated and afraid, of the virus currently sweeping the world.
As a side note, the video was produced by Lee Waters, a talented individual, who also produced the lyric videos for The Anchorite. He has a great eye for detail and came up with footage of deserted, haunted landscapes, which fitted the atmosphere of the track if not the narrative.
The official Line-up:
Phil Stiles – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Synths and Programming
with:
Matt Steady – Vocals
Richard Allsopp – Lead Guitar
Kyle Brandt – Vocals
Brett Minnie – Bass, Programming and Vocals
Pauline Silver – Percussion
Roger Morter – Bass
Mark Gatland – Bass
Tomek Wolski – Bass
For the full biography and complete information on PHIL STILES, visit the artist page at IMPERATIVE PR‘s official website or via the links listed below.
Official Site: www.philstilesofficial.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PhilStilesOfficial
Instagram: www.instagram.com/philstilesofficial
Bandcamp: philstiles.bandcamp.com