Kill The Thrill drift with force on ‘A la dérive’

KILL THE THRILL are blessed with an elusive vision. Over the past 30 years, the French duo have been dreaming up an abrasive-but-hypnotic blend of industrial rock, post-punk and dark wave. The videos for the first two singles off their upcoming fifth album, Autophagie, dropped immersed audiences in a cinematic fever dream that would give David Lynch nightmares.

KILL THE THRILL are releasing another hypnotic video for their roaring, electro-charged new single.

The video was masterfully crafted by Guillaume Mariotti – Mystère Public

We open on a train, suspended against a mottled sky. As the song rumbles to life, a series of seemingly disconnected footage fills the screen, overlapping like the inkblotter of a Rorschach test: a flaming wheelbarrow, storms at sea, refugees wandering through the desert, a mirage that slowly fades into ash.

In English, “A la dérive” loosely translates to a vague sense of wandering, of not knowing where to go after being severed from one’s roots.

“Accablés par tout ce qu’ils voient 
Dévastés par tout ce qu’ils prennent 
Ils reviennent de loin
Sans rien”

But the song carries momentum. The drums pound out a relentlessly off-kilter beat, tumbling end over end like a perpetual motion machine. Beneath a soar of strings, the sawing riffs give off more shock than an entire electric grid Even the interlude of lap-steel guitar leaves behind the same shimmer as a fallen star.

Here’s what Dick and bassist Marylin Tognolli have to say about their new single:

“With A La Dérive KILL THE THRILL plunges into the inhumanity of survival and uprooting. The narrative force of the track sticks to our retinas with a sense of urgency.”

Autophagie comes out January 26, 2024 on Season of Mist.

Tracklist

1. Tout va bien se terminer (8:53) 2. A la dérive (5:36) [WATCH VIDEO]
3. Le dernier train (10:30)
4. Autophagie (4:21) [WATCH VIDEO]
5. Capitan (9:21) [WATCH VIDEO]
6. Cluster headache (5:38)
7. Les enfants brûlent (4:10)
8. Je suis là (5:40)
9. Ahan (5:47)
Total: 59:56

Pre-order: https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/kill-the-thrill-autophagie
Pre-save: https://orcd.co/kttautophagiepresave

Line-up
Nicolas Dick – Lead vocals, guitar, lap steel, sample
Marylin Tognolli – Bass Guitar
François Rossi – Drums