FWAR

Free Entry | Brudenell Social Club | 19:30

The Absurd is an intriguing side step from Fwar’s first release, 2016’s Sanctuary. A bold debut, it’s first single Nobody received support from the likes of Radio 1, 6 Music, Radio X, Amazing Radio and The British Council. It was also playlisted by Spotify as one of their Fresh Finds & featured on tastemaker blogs such as Indie Shuffle. Fwar also worked with choreographer Barnaby Booth and film whizz Isaac Eastgate (Kindness, LA Priest) on his video for Everybody premiered by Amazing Radio. 

Sanctuary dealt with themes of identity (anonymity, formation, crisis, belonging & attachment) informed by psychobabble and personal experiences. Whilst the EP picked up plaudits daily, new music became Nathan's sole focus. Retreating to his studio to create EP number two "The Absurd”. 

The Absurd EP’s title is in reference to a term used in existentialist philosophy to describe the human tendency to seek inherent meaning & ones inability to do so. Existentialism is a philosophy that stresses free choice, with humans defining their own meaning of life despite living in a chaotic,irrational universe. 

Fwar comments “contemplating the idea that we try to apply logic and seek meaning from a world that lacks one true purpose is mind-blowing. Seemingly, from nowhere one can find themselves facing the Absurd world. It happens when your past experiences are undermined- when identification of the self is compromised. Examples of this are the death of friend/family member, break down of relationship, losing a job, injury or being deceived by a loved one. Coming to terms with living in a world without an inherent meaning sounds grim. However, it also creates freedom and allows one to create their own meaning for life. That to me is very inspiring and was a big influence on these songs.”

Similarly to the previous EP, The Absurd features lots of drones, tuned percussion and various homemade samples manipulated beyond repair. Fwar aims to make the synthesisers and artificial
instruments talk, seemingly trying to communicate with us despite their lack of worded language. Working alone he thinks of the computer as his collaborator- “I provide the human chaos and the computer provides order”. 

The Absurd will be released on 15th December 2017 via former Radio 1 DJ/music journalist Jen Long's label Kissability. Previously releases include Anteros, Marika Hackman, Circa Waves and Para Alta. An impressive roster of breaking acts which now we can add Fwar to.