World-renowned group GusGus have returned with their 11th studio album, the highly emotive Mobile Home, marking their first album release since 2018. The collective once again prove their commitment to pushing their artistic boundaries as they release one of their most ambitious and powerful albums in decades. For their latest record, GusGus call on VÖK’s lead singer Margrét Rán to help expand their style, keeping the collective’s sound as fresh as ever. The 9-track album is out now via their own Oroom imprint and features a concoction of electronic rock, ambient, darkwave, downtempo, and synthpop.
STREAM: GUSGUS – MOBILE HOME LP [OROOM]
After announcing a new album in October 2020, GusGus wowed fans with their first single “Higher,” offering a first taste of how VÖK’s impactful vocals mesh seamlessly with GusGus’ intelligent and powerful electronic production. “Higher” was soon followed up with the darker, downtempo “Stay The Ride” and the bright and energetic synth work on “Our World.” The three captivating singles each received equally remarkable music videos courtesy of founding members Arni & Kinski, the directing team known for working with the likes of Sigur Rós, Kiasmos, Ólafur Arnalds, Of Monsters and Men, and more.
Every track on Mobile Home doubles as a window into a futuristic dystopian world that has been overtaken by machines. A nod to the rise of technology and the ever-growing uncertainty surrounding automation, the album explores themes of solitude, rebellion, science fiction, hedonism, pleasure, and anger. Swirling within this world is a disconnected, aching soul who is on the verge of slipping into complete dementia. Forgotten purpose and goals but continues to be driven by the hedonistic default program of material consciousness; sensually self-indulgent and engaged in the pursuit of pleasure alone. In Mobile Home, GusGus challenge themselves like never before, resulting in a wonderfully chaotic reflection of the ongoing war between soul and machine.
With Mobile Home, GusGus show that the quality and sonic diversity of the singles pervades the full LP, while preserving the melodramatic themes that tie its 9 tracks together. “Simple Tuesday” showcases the group’s aptitude for blending contemporary electronic production with pop sensibilities while keeping an optimistic tonality at the forefront. Meanwhile, “Love Is Alone” and “Original Heartbreak” offer a slower, more pensive take on synthpop, and evoke feelings of solitude and deep melancholia. “Silence” and “The Rink” boast some of GusGus’s more experimental production, each alternating between radio-ready vocal verses with inventive and exciting synth elements. GusGus close Mobile Home with “Flush,” an instrumental score that leaves the listener riding high as they finish the LP.
ABOUT GUSGUS — Tastemakers of the scene for a quarter of a century, GusGus are one of the most beloved and longstanding electronic acts hailing from Iceland. Offering much more than just unparalleled musical mastery, the group has had their feet firmly spread across various sectors of the creative space since their inception and would sooner be classified as a multi-media art collective above all else. World-renowned for their genre-defying style and must-see live show, the troupe’s eclectic infusion of modern club culture and echoes of the past have seen them remix iconic acts such as Depeche Mode, Björk, and Sigur Rós. With the near-constant presence of Biggi Veira and Daníel Ágúst, recently re-joined (behind the scenes) by founding member Siggi Kinski and the newly recruited Margrét Rán, the collective has seen a rotating cast of members, all of whom have contributed to the artistic vibrancy that has defined the group and its production output over its 25 year-long career.
GusGus is now unfolding into a new era with their brand-new 11th studio album, Mobile Home. Rejuvenated and replete with creative aspiration, the collective welcome Vök’s Margrét Rán as the newest member of the circus, calling upon her illustrious dream-pop vocals to launch a new chapter in the GusGus saga. Offering an immersive montage of short stories that will serve as their most ambitious and forward-thinking LP to date, “Mobile Home” echoes the world’s forgotten purpose, lost between screens of distraction and material consciousness. This conceptual manifesto is the embodiment of GusGus and their world; a virtuous blend of masterful compositions and profound ideologies.
