Toronto-based band, 5th PROJEKT, release the first single from their forthcoming EP today (November 15 2022). The single, Vagabond, is from the EP, The Wolf, slated for release on March 7 2023.
5th PROJEKT are Tara Rice (vocals, guitar, fuzz bass, drums) and Sködt McNalty (guitars, synth). Together they make a psychedlic sound that has some shoegaze elements and a touch of dream-pop.
The first thing to notice about Vagabond is the industrial-sounding percussion track. This reminded us very much of Fiona Apple’s latest album, Fetch The Boltcutters.
There are aspects within this track that also reminded us very much of Portishead. In particular, their delightful track, Glorybox.
The heavily reverbed female vocals in the track reminded us a little of Deborah Harry or perhaps Kim Wilde. The fuzz bass is a lovely touch and makes the song feel just a little more psychedelic. It is both euphoric and mesmerising. After a short while, various synths join the mix and the vocals become layered, with some great harmonies added in.
The song develops well, and all the while feels like it’s building and building. Inspired by Rice and McNalty’s weeks-long journey on the Camino Santiago de Compostela, we like how the last line gives the impression that the song and the road will continue forever; “and a road that never ends, and a road that never…”
The stereo in this track is fantastic. There’s always something panned to the left or right for you to focus in on, and throughout the track, there’s an element of anticipation. It brings about an almost dystopian feel with its minor chord changes and heavy industrial percussion.
We think this would be a superb song to pitch to music supervisors for consideration for TV placement. It feels like a track that would sit perfectly in a montage of scenes, perhaps in a story about travel or possibly something a little more sinister. It is a song that forces you to listen to it and we loved it!
This track has a great industrial rock/metal feel to it. The production is superb too, you can clearly hear everything that is going on in the track. To our ears, a hi-pass filter at around 35Hz and a small cut around 55-60Hz would remove some sub-bass rumble and reduce a slightly boomy tone in the bass. A wider boost across the high mids and highs centred around 8kHz would give the track a little extra brightness too. These are just some ideas, the track doesn’t ‘need’ anything.
5th PROJEKT was a new name to us today, but based on this exciting and original work, they are a band we’ll be keeping a close eye on.