Photo by Yis Kid

When black midi announced they would be taking an indefinite break, I found myself revisiting 2022’s now-curtain call, Hellfire, in the days that followed. What surprised me the most that I hadn’t initially picked up on was how in the style of cabaret frontman Geordie Greep had begun edging his performance, turning those experimental art rock flames into pure candelabra. Add in the megolomaniac-esqe shade thrown behind the band member’s social media posts leading into their break, and the arrival of “Holy, Holy”, the lead single off Greep’s newly announced debut solo album, The New Sound, plays out like its own premeditative form of Broadway theatrics which you might not put past the band to quietly stir up for their own entertainment leading up to these events if all is not actually spite. The black midi shock-and-awe presentation of livewire progressive post-punk and free brass chaos now slips into the background. Greep, very visibly, steals center stage and spotlight, sashaying in his best cheap suit and self-professed lounge lothario in a bout of divinely-inspired comedy as the scene changes from one bedpost to another. “You must have heard about me / Everyone knows my name,” he boasts. Yes, they do and they see you coming a mile away, with the kicker being that anyone can be known as the most infamous worshipper of pussy the world over… for the right price.

Directors: Ethan + Tom

Geordie Greep’s The New Sound will be released October 4th on Rough Trade.