AT STATE’S END: Reflections
By Stephen White / Intro by Clara Dudley
we wrote it on the road mostly. when that was still a place.
and then recorded it in masks later, distanced at the beginning of the second wave. it was autumn, and the falling sun was impossibly fat and orange.
we tried to summon a brighter reckoning there, bent beneath varied states of discomfort, worry and wonderment.
- from the band’s new album statement, 1 March 2021 via Constellation Records (on Instagram)
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On 1 March 2021, a cryptic and beautiful communiqué appeared on Constellation Records’ social channels - and with that, in their typically poetic and crushing manner, Godspeed You! Black Emperor (GY!BE) announced their imminent return with the new album G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
Teased out over a few weeks, in a three-part euphoric punch to the devoted gut of any GY!BE fan, the Montreal post-rock legends hosted a live ‘brodkast’ of the full album streamed via Suoni Per il Popolo over projected visuals in an empty theatre on 27 March; released G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! on 2 April; and announced upcoming European and North American tours in early 2022.
Here, three months after its release, Irish music writer and reviewer Stephen White of The Last Mixed Tape responds to the album’s ominous origins and the possible futures it may perceive.
- Editor’s Note (Clara Dudley)
Above: Live 16mm projections at empty Cinema Imperial in Montréal (27 March 2021) / images courtesy of Constellation Records and Godspeed You! Black Emperor / Full live show credits: MUSIC: Godspeed You! Black Emperor FILMWORK & PROJECTION: Karl Lemieux & Philippe Léonard ADDITIONAL IMAGES: Jem Cohen EDITING: Guillaume Marin COLORIST: Marc Boucrot DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Mathieu Laverdière CAMERA OPERATORS: Stacy Lee & Mathieu Dumontier LIGHTING TECHNICIAN: Maude Bernier
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There's none more powerful artistic or social statement of intent than a manifesto.
Whether it be the Italian Futurists in the early 20th century or Karl Marx's Communist Manifest, the ideological nailing of your colours to the mast can be a sign of the times. And so it goes with Godspeed You Black Emperor, a band whose entire career can be viewed as one long list of demands. Quite literally, with their last two albums being accompanied by calls for "the expert fuckers who broke the world never to speak again" and to "tax the rich until they're impoverished".
“Indeed, there’s hope within State’s End, but it’s a cautious hope that looks to the scars earned in its creation. ”
It's kismet that the Canadian groups' most complex work to date, G_d's Pee at State's End, should be born into a time of great upheaval. Recorded in late 2020 and released on April 2nd 2021, the album was birthed against the turbulent backdrop of Trump's final days in office, the global outcry in support of Black Lives Matter and the pandemic that loomed large over the world. Indeed, there's hope within State's End, but it's a cautious hope that looks to the scars earned in its creation.
In contrast to their early, more feral sounding work, the band's seventh album contains the combustible elements that pushed Godspeed You Black Emperor to the fore but adds a sense of detailed repose musically. From the cacophonous buzz of 'Military Alphabet' to the darkly lit trudge of 'Government Came' and finally, the subtle incandescent atmospherics arising from 'Our Side Has To Win', the music takes us through it all.
The societal self-reckoning, distorted darkness of political machinations, and the glimpses of hope rallied against that same darkness. G_d's Pee at State's End stands at the dawn of a tentative slow revolution, conveying this feeling with a sound that is brutal in its beauty.
“Mirroring the arc of the album itself, we move tentatively into the post-pandemic world following a period of contorted change. Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s manifesto endures.”
Change can be a painful process while the losses prevail and stay with us. The wins can only seem momentary. The past can be challenging to face, and the path forward can be uncertain. Four months on from the release of G_d's Pee at State's End and the world is beginning to emerge out of the shadow of Coronavirus. Mirroring the arc of the album itself, we move tentatively into the post-pandemic world following a period of contorted change. Godspeed You! Black Emperor's manifesto endures. But while its demands still go unmet, there's are breaks of light appearing over the horizon. This is an album that communicates, it's never too late, and change is achievable, albeit at a significant cost.
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Stephen White is a music critic, reviewer and writer based in Dublin, Ireland. He is the curator of The Last Mixed Tape, a blog focused on contemporary Irish music. Learn more here.
