The Qualia’s synthpop only keeps one foot in that genre, whizzing between tangential styles as it goes. Cotillion Knives draws from foot-stomping anthemic rock, skeletal funk, chiptune, Eurodance, and a whole host of other styles. It’s exciting because it never stays in one place, always careening around in order to keep engaged. That everything somehow coheres into one complete album is a testament to the band’s skill — and a testament to the power of synthpop.
“When I was writing the songs for this record, I was thinking a lot about what it was like growing up in a small town in the South,” says the band’s Lars Casteen. “The songs have a lot of big positive emotion to them, but a lot of what I’m working through in the songwriting are some contradictory feelings about status and privilege that come from growing up in a divided Southern town.”
Cotillion Knives releases this Friday, August 12th. A few days in advance, stream the whole thing here.