[dropcap style=”font-size:100px; color:#992211;”]W[/dropcap]illiam Controlâs release schedule is intriguing, given how heâs releasing Revelations as a series of four EPs which will ultimately combine to form an album.
Iâd been aware of this since a trip to Manchesterâs Factory 251 in September â where he announced the impending release of EP The Pale, also showcasing a few tracks (three-quarters of the EP, in fact) for good measure. First impressions â theyâre as catchy as I remember.
It all begins with the single, âThe Monsterâ. A rather lively track where Control has seemingly thrown aside his Dark Wave tone to kick off the EP, adopting instead a cheerier Synth-Pop sound reminiscent of AFI spin-off Blaqk Audio. Controlâs lyrics, however, stay true to form, with sexual undertones from the start. The song is about a relationship, mainly the dark and lewd side.
William Control isnât shy when it comes to themes of sexuality in his music, and many parts of this track could point either to the pain you can feel in a relationship, with Control pessimistic from the outset, or perhaps referencing his own sado-masochistic sexual desires â pre chorus line âOh Iâm ready to hurt againâ and âI can be the darkness you hold dearâ from the chorus are great examples of this. âI will be the amplifying reason for your tearsâ is another lyrical inclusion pointing towards his pessimistic nature.
âConfessâ follows on, taking on a darker sound musically. The layered dark-wave synth patterns and guitar taking over the melody towards the end echoes early New Order. Lyrically, âConfessâ takes a twisted look at Christianityâs doctrine; damnation, temptation, Christ, God, and salvation are all mentioned. Of the new material played live at Factory, âConfessâ was the catchiest â its chorus and Controlâs call of âsave meâ lodge perniciously in the head. The lyrics talk about how weâve torn the world in half and asserts that we kill for love, possibly hinting towards his disdain of religion and the way he sees it as completely negative force.
âWhen The Love Is Painâ is eighties inspired from the get go â from the drum machine to the chorus-like synth effects. From the songâs title, itâs obvious Control is about to delve once more into his sexual predilections. Which he duly does in an evolution of prior material of a similar nature. Here Control isnât just overtly sexual, but also talks about the relationship as a whole, discussing love, lust, heartbreak and pain. It isnât just about dominating his partner, as Control has at times done in tracks like âThe Filth and The Fetishâ (one Iâm yet to introduce my Catholic mother to). However, like âThe Filth and the Fetishâ (and other songs in Controlâs back catalogue), sampled moans of female sexual pleasure and/or pain feature heavily, perhaps all just excerpts from the incoming amateur porno directed by Control. While I donât hate it, I definitely feel thereâs something here Iâve already heard.
The final track is âMother Superiorâ, the third song from the EP Control has already debuted live. From the opening lyrics itâs clear the song is rather dark â Controlâs lyrics in both William Control and Aiden have always had their dark moments, and here weâre told about an existential crisis Control is going through. The song touches upon suicide and drug abuse, as well as the hook stating âWe fall inside early gravesâ. The song and EP closes out with the multi-layered synth parts of âMother Superiorâ as a long instrumental, slowly breaking apart until a single synth is left and fading away.
With this release, itâs clear Control has taken a stronger influence from 80s electronic music (mainly New Wave) whilst lyrically staying close to home. The Pale induces optimism for the rest of the Revelations project â as an EP it has a very polished sound, and does justice to the sounds Control has paid homage to. The downside though, is that the new EP bundles seem to have pushed the bootleg Morrissey shirts out of his webstore, meaning we have to retract his title of âSports Direct for Goffsâ. A crying shame.