Divide and Dissolve Debut ‘Possessor’-Like Music Video For New Single ‘Indignation’
Mary Beth McAndrews
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The musical duo Divide and Dissolve use a beautiful cacophony of sounds to weave heavy and intentional stories about identity and colonization. They utilize a wide variety of instruments, from synths and pianos to guitars and saxophones and more to create their sonic landscape. “The heaviness is really important,” saxophonist/guitarist Takiaya Reed says. “It’s congruent with the message of the music, and the heaviness feels emblematic of this world’s situation.”
Divide and Dissolve’s new single “Indignation,” “is a prayer that land be given back to Indigenous people,” Reed explains. “A hope that future generations no longer experience the atrocities and fervent violence that colonization continues to bring forth.”
It’s available today with an accompanying video directed by Sepi Mashiahof.
In her director’s statement, Mashiahof said,
“In reflecting on the powerful and vital messaging found in Divide and Dissolve’s music: decolonization, the destruction of white supremacy, and liberation from oppressive structures—this video is about the collective grief we experience about the lives we all could have were it not for the cruel and arbitrary systems of power that impede each and every one of our potentials. The potential to truly love ourselves and each other is distorted by the agendas of vicious capitalist vultures who seek to emaciate our joys, bonds, and communities for their own gain.
This video depicts an abstract portrait of what suffering under these accelerating conditions feels like. Technology, dysphoria, dream-form sentience, transaction, and depersonalization constitute the thematic palette, laid upon the hope of shedding our current forms and transcending into boundless, beautiful ether.”
Watch the music video below:
You can also listen here.
Divide and Dissolve’s new album Systemic examines the systems that intrinsically bind us and calls for a system that facilitates life for everyone. It’s a message that fits with the band’s core intention: to make music that honors their ancestors and Indigenous land, to oppose white supremacy, and to work toward a future of Black and Indigenous liberation.
Reed comments, “This music is an acknowledgment of the dispossession that occurs due to colonial violence. The goal of the colonial project is to separate Indigenous people from their culture, their life force, their community, and their traditions. The album is in direct opposition to this.”
Like its predecessor Gas Lit, Systemic was produced by Ruban Neilson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Systemic was recorded as a duo and Takiaya says this new album is a continuation of 2021’s acclaimed Gas Lit. “Because of what was built with Gas Lit, Systemic is able to express itself,” said Reed.
As she emphasizes, it’s crucial for their music to be instrumental. “I believe in the power of non-verbal communication,” she said. “A huge percent of communication is non-verbal. We learn so much without using words.” The exception to this on the album is one spoken word track, “Kingdom of Fear”, that features writer and artist Minori Sanchiz-Fung who also contributed to previous Divide and Dissolve albums.
“There’s a world I want to live in, and I’m going to continue to focus on that world,” Takiaya says. “Indigenous people are here. With our existence, it challenges the colonial constructs that call for genocide. We are still alive.”
Systemic arrives on all formats via Invada on June 30, 2023. Pre-order it here.
Systemic Track Listing:
- Want
- Blood Quantum (Official Music Video)
- Derail
- Simulacra
- Reproach
- Indignation (Official Music Video)
- Kingdom Of Fear (featuring Minori Sanchiz-Fung)
- Omnipotent
- Desire
See all of Divide and Dissolve Live Dates here.
Listen to Divide and Dissolve on Bandcamp.
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