After emerging on digital streaming platforms for a brief moment pre-pandemic, and then mysteriously disappearing, STRANGE VISIONS 1 by Auckland-based project Polar Extremes is finally back where it belongs - on all DSPs.
Listen to STRANGE VISIONS 1 HERE
Undoubtedly one of the quirkiest records to have been completed on Aotearoa shores, STRANGE VISIONS 1 is the work of artist, producer and engineer Quaint, who is as mysterious as the journey this body of work has taken since its conception in the 90s.
“STRANGE VISIONS 1 was written over 20 years, from 1993 to 2019. The apocalyptic theme began even before the influence of pre-millennium tension. Things have only intensified since then,” says Quaint.
“When the album was first finished the official Doomsday Clock was at five minutes to midnight, and the album artwork was prophetically at two minutes to midnight. Now the official clock is at 89 seconds to midnight - the closest humanity has come to destruction.”
“The cover album art is now technically behind the times!”
The album’s lead single ‘Captain Zodiac's Dictionary’ is a splendorous and wacky mash of Victorian hip-hop, Vaudeville, post-modern satire, funk and pop noir.
Listen to ‘Captain Zodiac's Dictionary’ HERE / Watch the music video HERE and the lyric video HERE
“In the spirit of Gulliver's Travels, it is a satire of modern times where truth, post-truth and fantasy collide. Where science and mythology and conspiracy theory become combined in public perception. It is simultaneously fun and dark/twisted - a nihilistic nursery rhyme. There is something both sublime and ridiculous about a society in a philosophical and apocalyptic free fall,” says Quaint.
STRANGE VISIONS 1 also includes the tracks ‘So What If I’m On Television’, ‘Racing This Time’, and the ultimate track ‘Harps’, which Quaint describes as ghost funk: “Spirit, heart and body all together - it unites all the chakras.”
It’s anyone’s guess as to why STRANGE VISIONS 1 disappeared during lockdown, to re-emerge at a time when the future of society precariously hangs in the balance. All that really matters is that the album is back and it’s just what the doctor ordered.
Catch Polar Extremes live at Moon in Wellington on Saturday, July 19 for the STRANGE VISIONS 1 album release show. Polar Extremes will be supported by Bottom Bunk Club and The Rugs.
Get tickets to the STRANGE VISIONS 1 Album Release Show here