ÄTNA challenge the zeitgeist with the politically-charged “Grinding”

If there is one thing apparent about 2020, it is that the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a pressure-cooker for any political or societal injustices that were already bubbling to the surface. Be it police brutality and the countering of the Black Lives Matter movement to the environmental crisis and perhaps the most important presidential election of the past 50 years, being cooped indoors has made turning a blind eye no longer an option.

Soundtracking this ominous zeitgeist are ÄTNA. They may have only released their debut album Made By Desire in January of this year, but new single “Grinding” found them compulsively spurred to reflect and document the heightened challenges of this year and the worldly climate that allowed them to manifest.

Opening with a whirring bass that eerily throbs with a foreboding essence, “Grinding” is soon enveloped by the slow ooze of bright synths. A sludgy half-time beat nudges the track along; “Fuck the system” sings vocalist Inéz as she reflects on Trump metaphorically igniting his own house. The uncomfortable gurn of “Grinding” is perfectly synonymous with a world that has lost the seamless motion of its synchronicity.