Defiant in their music and defiant in their approach to the creative process, Ireland’s DIVIL release ORANGUTAN, their second single from upcoming EP DIVIL I
Resistance in the face of adversity is central to the existence of the band who formed off the back when vocalist Danny McMahon’s father unfortunately passed away. Without even having time to process their grief, bassist Conor Cusack was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer.
Not ones to let bad news stifle their art, DIVIL pushed on to write and record DIVIL I out 19th June. Here’s what Jocelyn Vance (guitarist) has to say about the origins of ORANGUTAN:
I was listening to a lot of Dean Martin samba music, and the chords for “ORANG UTAN” grew out of that – it has that kind of rhythm to it. I remember getting to practice early one day and having those chords playing on a loop pedal. I was noodling over them, cycling through different ideas for what sort of riff or voicing could go over that set of chords. Danny came in and latched onto it straight away. He took out his iPad and recorded about a minute of me cycling through ideas. That minute eventually became the basis of the demo. We doubled it up and used it as the foundation for the song.
And when we went to record the track, we actually used that original iPad recording because it had this great kind of immediacy to it that was impossible to replicate. Then Conor came in and did his thing with the bass, and that was basically it.
It’s a song about escapism, about reaching for quick fixes when nothing else seems to work. The sound of a man alone in a house, pacing nervously, battling his own cravings and screaming into an iPad. It’s tense, unravelling and shot through with the kind of desperation that’s difficult to fake.
With the Irish music community rallying around Connor and raising €100k followed by an impromptu summoning to Belgian for experimental treatment, the band represent an admirable ability to push through turmoil and pursue their calling with exceptional results.
On behalf of IINAG, we wish Connor the best of luck.
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