Listen: Lifers – “Fear Without Form” [Premiere]

A departure from his lo-fi punky roots, John Arthur Webb of Male Bonding returns with his new solo project, Lifers.

Coming from the man at least partly responsible for such modern day garage anthems as “Year’s Not Long” and “Weird Feelings”, “Fear Without Form” feels like a step into drastically different territory from the guitarist and frontman.

Rather than guitar riffs and distortion, the track begins as it means to go on: slow and steady. Built over a hypnotic hum-like sample looped continuously, Webb’s voice is really the star of the show. Sounding disaffected and bizarrely paranoid at the same time, it goes well with a track that’s actually sonically relaxed but feels strangely climatic.

While a lazy guitar and bassline accents the track before picking up into slightly funkier territory, the track stays mostly consistent, owing more to the looped instrumentation of Washed Out. Probably more of an experiment than an actual complete change in sound, “Fear Without Form” is a unique and bold move for Webb, but one clearly borne out of passion.

Living With Damp EP is out in April on Zoo Music.