Dan Hillier
You’d be forgiven for saying Reclus.É popped up out of nowhere earlier this year. After all, they kind of did. Back in May, the band released their debut single ‘A Muted TV’, confirmed their signing to Rise Records and announced their live debut would be supporting A Perfect Circle at the iconic Brixton Academy. From there, they announced their debut LP The World Can’t Take Much More and spent the summer bouncing between 2000 Trees, Outbreak and finally ArcTanGent. Naturally, in times like these, accusations of nepotism and all of that are all but inevitable. Such baseless allegations are ridiculous, though. The band, formed between Soren Bryce of Tummyache and Daniel P. Carter of everything else, was always destined to achieve immediate attention from the outset thanks to each of their careers. And as the band explain, their foundation came not from industry pressures or anything of the sort, but a chance message.
“We have a bunch of mutual friends. Two in particular”, states Daniel P. Carter just a couple of hours following their set on the final day of this year’s ArcTanGent. “I was writing some music and was looking for a singer, and they suggested to me about messaging Soren, which I did. Then we met in London to feel like we could get on, because you never know if you’re going to be able to actually create something together. Then I sent Soren some music, and then they sent back three songs, and I was just like, this is amazing.”
It’s not surprising this message into the unknown worked out so well. Sure, this set today was only the band’s fifth ever show, but in post-hardcore circles, Reclus.É has quickly become a subject of interest, and not just because of their origins and members. There’s no denying that the world is in an utter state at the moment. Wars are being waged around the globe, genocides can be more or less livestreamed, and the tyrannical capitalist powers that be line their pockets in the process. For those who have seen Reclus.É this summer, they will know that this is a band that rallies against such evils, albeit in a way that’s jovial, empowering and life-affirming.
“In a way it’s a nice way to combat that negative energy, to make our music sound nice and happy”, states Soren. “Dan loves the music, and then I have my own lens, writing the melody and the lyrics. We were talking earlier that we were just having so much fun, and it’s so joyful for us to do this project because we have other projects, and for us, we had no expectation going in, and so it meant that we could just do anything we wanted. I guess the output of that is just that because we’re having such a joyful time doing here, it probably translates to the show. It’s also been a new experience. I’ve never been a front person, not playing an instrument. So that’s a new level of myself to explore; how can I translate who I am without playing a guitar? That’s been such a fun challenge.”
Of course, the show here at ArcTanGent was irrefutable proof of such a sentiment. Sharing the Yohkai stage with fellow politically conscious acts such as itoldyouiwouldeatyou and TTNG, Reclus.É’s set was one of fervent energy and fury. More or less, it was a set defined by impassioned anger that can only come from sharing space with others that hold similar attitudes, in that urgent action and protest is the only way that can raise awareness of the ills and evils that are swamping the Western sociopolitical landscape. “It was a bit hard today”, admits Soren when asked how the set felt for them and Dan. “We got here pretty soon before we were supposed to play. I always really like to ground in the space.”
Dan elaborates: “I thought it was great, but this is going to sound a bit hippy; I didn’t feel the thing. We weren’t grounded. Whereas the others so far have been different. Outbreak was one where I have no recollection of what was happening while we were playing, and it wasn’t until I looked back at a video that somebody sent me where I was like, oh, there were a lot of people there, and we had this backdrop thing, which I didn’t even know about. I weirdly hyperprocess, but at the same time, I was totally out of it.” And as for grounding, how do the pair do it? “Well, I never wear shoes”, states Soren with a laugh. “I find it really weird and strange. It feels like I’m separate from the space. Like, well, I don’t know. This has been my whole career.” “I should try that; I’ve got nice feet; it’s the only thing going for me”, Dan interjects with another laugh.
But most of all, potentially the most evident thing to take away from a chat with both Dan and Soren is the chemistry between them. Sure, this project only came to fruition recently following a chance message, but from their recorded material thus far, the live appearances across summer, Reclus.É appears and sounds to be a naturally organic project bound by a shared love for collaboration and driven by the desire to address how the world is being torn asunder by both late-stage capitalism and rising far-right ideologies that have learned nothing from the past. And as the conversation closes by discussing the forthcoming LP, it appears the record is set to capture the essence, drive, fury and catharsis that binds this project together as a whole.
“I guess what I want the message to come across is we’re at such an interesting intersection in the history of humans”, states Soren. “Technology is taking over everyone, and there’s just so much negativity, so much horror, so much genocide. It’s such an interesting intersection of time for us as people, in a way that’s been suppressed a lot by technology, in a way that distracts us. And I feel like art is a nice way to combat that, right? Because you’re putting something beautiful in the world, and if people take anything from it, I hope it’s just that they try to think for themselves, question what it is they consume, how much they consume and what they can do within their own community to help make the world better.”
“I think that the most vital thing that we can do as people is just to put good into the world, Dan continues, clearly on the same wavelength. “It sounds very much like kind of a hippie ideal, but at the end of the day, there’s so much good in the world, and that’s the way we can actually fight back against it all.” “It’s the only thing you can do to try to even out the balance”, continues Soren. “If we’re not all living in a way that will benefit everyone, then what’s the point? And once everyone’s gone broke, these rich people are not going to be able to even sell us anything. Stick together, hardcore forever.”