Freak Heat Waves

Beyond XXXL // Telephone Explosion

It’s been three years since Freak Heat Waves gave us the brilliant Bonnie’s State Of Mind. Since then the duo of Steven Lind & Thomas DiNinno left Victoria for Montreal and were signed by Telephone Explosion which has released amazing albums from New Fries, Moss Lime and Teenanger. Their first album under the label is called Beyond XXXL and is comprised of sounds that could have been made by aliens if they visited Earth to listen in on a machine shop whose workers were blaring beats over the radio. It veers Freak Heat Waves into brand new territory as they opted to ditch nearly all conventional instruments for synthesized sounds and drum machines. In doing so, they managed to create an otherworldly album with odd noises and squealing synths permeating over electronic drums. Lind’s deadpan, modulated voice makes him sound like a bored cybernetic organism and it is just as essential as any other instrument found on the record. Being original is one of the hardest things to do in modern music and Freak Heat Waves have managed to create one of the most unique albums in years.