Hoo boy! This album by The Presets is not what you expect!

Hi Viz, the fourth studio album from The Presets, totally knocked me sideways. It’s an album of diverse songs that bend the rules; theres no radio formula, no pop song rules. “Musically, we always tried to forge our own lane, and it’s not like we’re jumping onto trends.” Kim told me. This album is an exaltation, full of bravado and machismo, fuck off attitude and youthful exuberance. The album feels effortless, unlabored and free.

It sounds like the most exciting music you hear in the most secret clubs and are totally unable to Shazam. Last night I watched the Presets play the album in Sydney, and Hamilton told the crowd, ‘The past is over, this is what we sound like now.’

‘I got really bored of writing songs. Verse. Chorus. Bridge. Chorus. This time around I thought let’s make some songs that are just some words, lines, repeated over and over again.’

When I sat down to interview the Presets earlier this month, Julian Hamilton told me the album was supposed to be, “Like a mixtape. A house party, where your friends are spinning reccords. We were treading this fine line where it was a diverse party record but still we wanted it to sound like a Presets record.”

HI VIZ is our 4th studio album – an acid-soaked circle jerk of rave nuggets, cyber croons and pub techno, made with the help of our trusty friends @awonderland @dmasmusic @Jakeshears @DZDEATHRAYS @iTouchSensitive @rromarinlite @fritzhelder and more – a whole stack of rad humans pic.twitter.com/Z3t97OAkyQ

— The Presets (@ThePresets) February 7, 2018

There is a song called Martini which is what Julian told me was their ‘cyber croon.’ “I had this story in my head about a guy who falls in love with a drag queen called Martini. So its kind of a love song.” The song is fast and uplifting and pulsates with lust – I did not expect it from the band. Its one of those tracks that surprises you and wakes you up and makes you want to dance.

There’s also a song called Beethoven, where the vocal is drawn out and Hamilton annunciates the ‘H’ sound like he’s saying ‘whet’ (its wild). The beats are heavy and the synths are spinny. I really could go on and on, but I’ll let you be the judge! There’s fun collaborations scattered like confetti and beer caps all throughout the album. Look out for Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters howling about ‘the beast inside’ and Alison Wonderland’s nineties punk moment. Shane Parsons, Kirin J and Touch Sensitive also all have their hands in this special record. Seriously, give the whole album a go, I reckon.

You can stream Hi Viz below, or find your selected streaming service here:

The article was originally published on Tone Deaf