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Jan 18, 2024 By Dom Gourlay

Liverpool duo and Under the Radar favourites Pleasure Island release their eagerly anticipated new single “Evangelion” along with a new video to accompany it.

“Evangelion” is the duo’s (Sean Ekins – vocals & guitar, Sam Pierpoint – drums) first release since previous single “Shallow Grave” which came out in January 2023 and is the first track off their forthcoming as-yet-untitled EP which is scheduled for early 2024.

The track was produced by Loïc Gaillard at the Motor Museum, the studio famous for hosting recordings by The Arctic Monkeys, 1975 and Bring Me The Horizon among others.

Songwriter and vocalist Sean Ekins said about “Evangelion”: -

““Evangelion” is a satirical take on the oldest cliche in rock, writing a song about Japan. The song is written from the point of view of a band that has run out of road, deciding to head off to the far east on a tour. The song is inspired by the band members’ previous tours abroad in Asia and the general difficulty bands experience achieving success in the music industry. The music pays homage to the nineties, bands such as Suede, Manics etc with a pastiche on the Brit Rock sound, as a musical holiday from the Post Punk and Garage style the band is known for.”

Lyrically, the song encapsulates the myth of the “rock and roll dream” and how far removed it is from reality, as Ekins describes: -

“These lyrics are a playful poke at the fetishisation of all things Japanese, the squalor of the rock star fantasy and the depressing reality that our bands are often doomed to fail at our own hands… the verse has a very sinister feel to it in keeping with the themes, but we wanted something more uplifting for the chorus so it didn’t end up depressing”

The band reunited with the team at Red Visuals for the new music video, shot on location at the Liverpool docks. The band sought to recreate the iconic Japanese TV characters of their youth, using materials from the local hardware store, then place them into the dank Liverpool warehouses, to reflect the tale of decaying immature dreams from the song’s lyrics.

Pleasure Island play the following shows in support of “Evangelion” and their forthcoming EP:-

February 2nd: Quarry, Liverpool
March 16th: Kazimier Stockroom, Liverpool
March 23rd: Broadcast, Glasgow
April 19th: Chameleon Arts Café, Nottingham (as part of the Karma Weekender)

“Evangelion” is out now and available on all digital formats.