Triple One have shared a transcendental new single titled ‘Blood Rave’, landing as the first track to follow their acclaimed 2020 album ‘Panic Force’.
Made in collaboration with Melbourne artist and producer Lucianblomkamp, the new track features silky, atmospheric synth leads, driving 808 beats and a striking contrast between the emotive, indie-rock-esque chorus and sharp, propulsive rapped bars in the verses.
The track arrives alongside a fittingly psychedelic film clip directed by Serwah Attafuah, in which the members of Triple One are turned into 3D-animated avatars navigating an inexplicably bizarre virtual world. Take a look at it below:
In a press release, Triple One vocalist Marty Bugatti explained that ‘Blood Rave’ explores the theme of “pleasure and the consequences of chasing pleasure” as well as “indulging in temptation, lust and the areas in-between”.
Noting that he sees the track as a rumination on “[the] constant paradox of the different forces in your life guiding decisions and your ultimate fate”, he continued: “It’s about being in a constant cycle of chasing expedient joy and putting off responsibilities to be dealt with later. And then, when it’s time to deal with the consequences, it’s often too late.
“People say live in the moment, who cares, be free. But if you don’t have foresight in your life, you turn stagnant and wander around aimlessly. If you’re in it you can’t see it.”
On her mind-bending visual accoutrement to the track, Attafuah said, “My aim was to create a surreal and sexy feminine universe in which the Triple One characters are lost in.
“Visually, I didn’t want it to be just a loose conceptual piece, so making it as literal as possible was pretty important to me. It’s always a pleasure to collaborate with Triple One, they definitely put a tonne of thought into all their visual elements and always come through with the hardest concepts.”
‘Blood Rave’ marks a striking follow-up to Triple One’s debut album, ‘Panic Force’, which the Sydney quartet released independently last October. Flanked by the singles ‘Loverose’, ‘Salina’ and ‘Sunshine’, the record was a hit upon release, peaking at Number One on the ARIA Hip-Hop/R&B Albums Chart.
Speaking to NME, member Obi Ill Terrors explained that the band’s intention with ‘Panic Force’ was to experiment beyond the boundaries of what Australian hip-hip was known for at that point.
“I think, from the start, we weren’t happy with ‘Aussie hip-hop’ or with how it sounded and the acts – and so we tried to make our own,” he said.
“With what we’re doing now, we’re still trying to just challenge people’s perceptions and challenge people’s ideas of what they think Australian rap is and fucking make it cool.”