Packed with mesmerizing bass rhythms, enduring drum patterns, unrefined yet spirited guitar riffs, and driven by frenzied, absorbing vocals, TEST PLAN’s new single ‘Walking in a Vacuum’. delivers an intense experience of existential angst paired with a passion for loud soundscapes.
Max Mason, the drummer and vocalist, reflects on the complexities of resilience, highlighting the dangerous edge of self-deception.
“Walking in a Vacuum” explores the internal struggle of repressing emotions and feeling consumed by the world’s pressures, offering a unique perspective on the act of overthinking and giving up control, suggesting perhaps both should be avoided.
The song’s accompanying video, a project led by Mason, visually embodies the track’s exploration of resilience amidst turmoil and the nuanced dance between dread and joy.
Mason aimed to create an artwork that conjures the atmosphere of performance art within a gallery, crafting scenes that evoke a sense of the cursed and the eerie without direct provocation, using animation to infuse a mystical, colorful vibrancy into their otherwise tense performances.
The band shot the video in just one day, utilizing a DIY ethos that’s at the core of their creative process.
“We shot this video in one day at Max’s house, in his bedroom to be exact. We moved the furniture to try and empty out the space as much as possible,” they reveal, emphasizing their hands-on approach. The goal was to create a stark, almost unsettling environment that mirrored the themes of the song.
They wanted a “big white room for us to perform in and put together cursed imagery in as minimal a way as possible,” which also gave off “a bit of an art gallery feel.”
Influenced heavily by performance art and figures like Marina Abramović, TEST PLAN sought to explore the boundaries of human behavior and societal norms through their video.
They aimed for an effect that was both “weird, feral or shocking,” capturing the power of performance art to provoke and question.
The video’s production was marked by improvisation and experimentation, particularly with lighting.
“There was a rough guide for scene ideas but the day was built around a lot of improvisation from each of us,” they note. By incorporating the lights as almost characters in the video, they created an atmosphere where the band members were “metaphorical moths, sucked into and hypnotised by light,” further enhancing the video’s intensity.
Directors like David Lynch and Michael Haneke influenced the video’s horrific tension, with TEST PLAN striving to emit “a visceral and chaotic energy” that matched the song’s dynamism. The inclusion of animation added an eerie, surreal layer to the visuals, with Max utilizing his experience in animation to experiment with new styles.
The editing process was integral, stitching together “a day’s worth of manic footage to create the feeling of tension rising and almost never letting go,” encapsulating the song’s escalating intensity.
As for ‘Walking in a Vacuum’ itself, TEST PLAN describes it as dealing with “a sense of dissociation and the act of suppressing the things you never want to deal with.” It’s a song that reflects on the underlying dread and nervousness that can pervade life, with the music acting as a cathartic release for these emotions.
“All of us in TEST PLAN are unified by our love of catharsis,” they explain, highlighting their connection to the darker, more intense facets of music as a means to explore and express unsettled emotions.
TEST PLAN’s approach to ‘Walking in a Vacuum’ showcases their dedication to authenticity, creative freedom, and the exploration of deep, sometimes uncomfortable themes through their music and visuals. It’s a candid look at how they blend their artistic influences with a DIY spirit to create something truly unique in the landscape of London’s underground music scene.
Looking ahead, TEST PLAN is gearing up for a significant year with plans for their largest headlining show yet, a tour kicking off at Paris’ Supersonic Block Party, a live session, and an upcoming EP. The release of ‘Walking in a Vacuum’ on 26th March precedes their headlining single launch event on 29th March at Paper Dress Vintage, featuring support from in violet and Brides.
