Wish Defense

Description

The duality of man is a subject that has been explored in art for centuries, from writings of the Bible to Descartes, all the way up to filmmakers like Lynch, Cronenberg, & Carpenter. Who is your true self & what do they want? With their sixth studio album Wish Defense (again for longtime home Trouble In Mind Records), Chicago trio FACS take a good, long look in the mirror to face themselves.

The return of original member Jonathan Van Herik who stepped away from the group just before their debut album Negative Houses was released in 2018 replacing longtime bassist Alianna Kalaba brings renewed vigor & a marked angularity from the bands more recent output. The songs still hit hard, but the approach is sideways the roles have changed since Van Heriks original tenure & his previous time with Case & powerhouse drummer Noah Leger in Disappears; now on bass, Van Herik was originally the groups guitar

player and features on the debut, while current guitarist Brian Case played bass. This role reversal has helped the bands dynamic, offering up a different musical perspective than before, now revisiting the trios long-going collaboration with some distance and time.

Case notes that the lyrics on Wish Defense revolve around doppelgängers or doubles, tackling the idea of facing yourself and observing your ideas and motivations. Look no further than the albums title track; Enter the mirror / Double walker / An intimate / Wish defense / Is it real? / You beside me / The detail / Terrifying / Abject self / Your grief / A public / Performance. Case lays out the entire albums theme in one stanza; Are your actions & emotions your true self? Or are they a performative aspect of that other person you put

forward? Case says that ultimately the sentiment is dont let the bastards get you down, theres something beyond this moment, like hope but not in the naive belief that ultimately people are good. Wish Defenses artwork is also a subtle reference to Negative Houses art, returning to that albums black & white starkness & minimalism. The albums checkerboards everywhere are offset reflections of themselves, mirrored with the albums lyrics printed front & center on the cover. Everything is out in the open.

A final note; Wish Defense is the last album engineered by Steve Albini. Two days were recorded at Electrical Audio in early May of 2024 before Steves untimely passing, with renowned engineer & friend Sanford Parker stepping in to finish the session 24 hours later, tracking the last bits of vocals and overdubs. Longtime collaborator John Congleton mixed the album as Albini would have; in Electrical Audios A room, off the tape, using Albinis notes about the session.