"Brainless after the office, but make it braindance": Strict Face details Age of Burnout EP, shares clubby instrumental single “Ode to the Meatheads”

The single is an overload of modular synthesis that pulls from the weight of Boys Noize and Errorsmith while sneaking in a nod to Benny Benassi. “‘Ode to the Meatheads’ stems from an idea I had of what an anthem for gym bros and bunnies who were raised on Boys Noize’s first two albums and the Timedance label in equal measure, instead of Melbourne bounce and Swedish EDM, would sound like,” Strict Face explains. “Further to this, the concept I had in mind was ‘Brainless after the office, but make it Braindance’.”

The track continues the broken, hand-crafted sound design of Severe Forward while aiming squarely at peak-time commuter chaos. It’s the first taste of an EP that, according to the producer, explores burnout, politics, digital overload, and online culture. The record draws from the legacy of Thomas Bangalter’s Roulé label, the forward-thinking club mutations of Timedance and Fever AM, and traditions of the British bass continuum, kuduro, batida and bubbling music.

Strict Face has spent over fifteen years in Australia’s underground dance landscape, building unexpected bridges between contemporary electronics and their antecedents. He first emerged during the second wave of instrumental grime in the early 2010s, releasing via Mumdance’s Different Circles and Mr. Mitch’s Gobstopper, and has since fronted his own SLG International and Heuristic imprints. His long-standing relationship with NLV Records has charted a path from flirtations with pop and R&B production on 2017’s This Heat EP and 2018’s New Racer mixtape, through to the club-notoriety of 2021’s Pulsers and 2022’s Focus, Explode.

As a selector, his versatility has been endorsed by a wide network of DJs: he’s shared booths with Ben UFO, Chloé Robinson, Eris Drew, Massimiliano Pagliara, Jossy Mitsu and Special Request, among others, and picked up co-signs from DJ Plead, Jamz Supernova, Skrillex and Lena Willikens.