Watch: The Acid – “Basic Instinct”

The one that nearly got away: this breathtaking video for “Basic Instinct” is an audio-visual triumph, and a statement piece of art from the get-go by burgeoning three-piece, The Acid.

-Comprised of Australia-via-LA producer/artist Ry X, grammy-nominated British DJ and producer Adam Freeland and Californian native producer/composer Steve Nalepa, the band came together quietly in early 2013 with the simple aim of making music together. What has emerged is something so spectacular, so untimely, and so down-right intriguing that their genesis is more than a blessing.

“Basic Instinct” – the first we’ve heard from the band – refuses to be categorised with its wiry acoustics, scuzzy talkbox vocals and house music sentiments. Add to the mix the dystopian-inspired visuals, featuring surrealist, uniformed performers (from notable dance/art group WIFE) jumping slow-mo amongst mountains and lakes, and you’ve got something all together the more mystifying.

“Coming up for air/coming up for air, air” Ry stutters intimately into your ear, as stunning visual close-ups on the textures of the characters’ creased costumes and mopped hair become at once comforting and discomforting. Dotty synth claps and lyrical repetition flirts with something more dance-lead, if only to be snatched back down to earth by multi-layered acoustics and perturbing oohs. The song isn’t a million miles away from the eclectic and syncopated sounds of latter-day Radiohead – and yet, nothing really like it at all.

The Acid play their first live show at Chat’s Palace, London on 31 March. Their debut self-titled four-track EP is released on 14 April via Infectious Music.