"Fiends" arrives in the wake of long-awaited single "Chess", a feisty dark pop cut with deep influences in rock and punk music. “Fiends” might be a slightly subtler track than its stablemate, but there's no shortage of the attitude Seafoal is quickly building a name with. Boasting a brass band intro that could have been stolen from an early noughties pop punk album, it swiftly gives way to warped sub-bass and Seafoal's unmistakeable voice. Highlights include creepily doctored vocals an understated yet subtly threatening chorus.
"I wrote fiends about mental illness and likened the illness to bad little creatures living in my head in the lyrics," Seafoal explains, referencing the lyric "You gotta understand, their wish is my command / I can't evict the devil sitting on my shoulder." "I wanted to make the song sound creepy to accompany that, because it's scary sometimes, dealing with your demons when no one else can hear or see them," they add.
The release of "Fiends" is accompanied by the announcement of the Xeraclius EP, Seafoal's first since 2014's Lucid Living. Since then, fans only had 2016 single "Van Gogh" to tide them over until the video for "Chess" appeared online late last year. With three previously unheard tracks, it moves away from the acoustic sound of Seafoal’s early releases in an exciting electro-infused direction. The bright pop of "You’ll Be Sorry" echoes "Van Gogh"'s spunky kiss-off, whilst "Submerged" and "Samara" are a pair of more understated tracks that still pack one hell of a punch.
