From strength to Hysterical Strength, DEADLETTER bowed out of their 2024 tour with their biggest show to date.
I’d discovered these guys about 2 months ago and was instantly captured by the vocals of the frontman Zak and the weird mish-mash of jazz and funk blended in with punk and indie rock. The album itself is an interesting one, for there’s no denial of their talent, but what sets them apart is the heavy use of the sax in their tunes, offering something fresh in a post-punk band. I was excited to see the energy they could bring, and they are very much a band in their early, try-anything stage.
They opened with Credit to Treason, which prods you with their jazz influenced sound, with Poppy on saxophone leading the tune. We were then introduced to their slightly vague lyrics. Maybe the word vague is harsh and it would be better to say cryptic? The chorus stuck out to me, “If my mind is a king then I’m a credit to treason.” The song I was most anticipating, More Heat, seemed to be a turning point for DEADLETTER. It felt like a momentum builder and built a little more cohesion between them on stage. The chorus, backed up by the others apart from Alfie on drums, brought the crowd out of their shell too. The first few tunes had us bobbing but this one awoke the beast. It seemed fitting as the content of this song alludes to breaking out of repetitive habits that give you no joy. The heat in Electric Brixton was very much reaching its desired height.
Image Copyright: Electric Brixton
They continued straight into Hysterical Strength, title track of their new album, with intricately entwined guitar and saxophone euphony. Zak’s presence was growing, and we were treated to more heavily layered lyrics, “Conjuring up a divine degree of hard to fathom energy. This rope stretches to immeasurable lengths.” There is certainly an air of testing the waters within their discography. I would interpret this touching on the phenomenon of Hysterical Strength as a symbol of their willingness to expand their sounds in the less conventional way.
After skipping through songs such as Relieved and A Haunting, the best was saved for last. Mere Mortal, Deus Ex Machina, Binge and It Flies rounding off the setlist, there was no sign of a breather for them or us. I was up close and personal for Mere Mortal with Zak stood on the barrier, looking deep into our souls before spreading his wings falling into the crowd, “What’s a mere mortal to do” was certainly the louder of the chants heard that night. What followed then was a parting of the crowd for Deus Ex Machina. Zak entered the fray, with a story to tell. This song was apparently written during the 2022 period of British politics where a new prime minister was announced about every other month. He crawled his way across the floor, while the circle around him crouched to his level. As the chorus was ready to drop, he leaped back onto the stage and the people sprang into action. “What this place needs is a Deus Ex Machina” echoed throughout. Considering the context and now with an even more chaotic state of affairs in today’s government; if that’s at all possible, this number hit hard.
There’s a huge amount of talent within this band and more importantly, there’s obvious potential to expand on. The elephant in the room that needs to be addressed is the discography that maybe doesn’t offer an extant variety. But then again there are still enough signs to suggest they can really grow. As they concluded Zak remarked, “We’ll be back on tour at some point, probably when the next album is done.” They clearly mean business and the future is bright for these lot!
Further Reading!