Hot on the heels of their recently released debut album The Diet, HeCTA have unveiled a video for the galvanizing and hypnotic ‘Sympathy For The Auto Industry’. Directed by Chris Shepherd, the video portrays the relationship between a father and son. “The son tries to reach out to his dad, but is he cold and remote. It’s not till he thinks he’s lost his son that things change. They are like ships passing in the night. But will they collide?”

Shepherd described further how the video came about:

“I wanted to do something that matched the electronica of the track. It felt like the Human League/Heaven 17 vibe of the track screamed out for something visually similar to the ‘Money for Nothing’ promo by Dire Straits. I also thought it would be cool to collaborate with RTS award nominee and Kingston graduate Jez Pennington, whose graduate film Pigeon Kids is a story of urban alienation in a world of CGI.

Myself and Jez were really into the idea of getting data moshing into the promo. We wanted to get a sense of abstraction, where the music becomes so powerful it breaks the images apart. There’s a great bit in the promo for David Bowie’s ‘Loving the Alien’ where the image breaks apart as the music hits a peak. I love the power of that idea.”

Check out the video for ‘Sympathy for the Auto Industry’ below.

The Diet is out now via City Slang in Europe and via Merge in North America.

With the September 18th release of The Diet fast approaching, HeCTA are teasing their debut album again. They have unleashed a driven and hypnotic beast of a track called ‘Sympathy For The Auto Industry’, that brings to mind Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, with touches of pop and new wave. The single is “HeCTA’s unique interpretation on the pop-song format”, says the press release. “Inviting laid-back techno sounds & bubbling synths provide a fresh foundation to Kurt Wagner’s instantly recognizable voice, offering a further glimpse of what to expect from the forthcoming record”. Listen to ‘Sympathy For The Auto Industry’ now.

The Diet is out on September 18th via City Slang in Europe and via Merge in North America.

As we mentioned last month, Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner and fellow members Scott Martin and Ryan Norris have a new electronic project called HeCTA. Inspired by the book Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture 1970–1979 by Tim Lawrence and also by a 78 RPM record Kurt had come across featuring a 45-second monologue about weight loss and performed by the comedian Buddy Hackett, HeCTA wrote their debut album fittingly titled The Diet. The effort is due out on September 18th via City Slang in Europe and via Merge in North America.

Following the first single ‘Till Someone Gets Hurt’, the trio have just shared another cut from the album, ‘The Concept’. It comes with an accompanying video, directed by Chris Shepherd and co-animated by himself and David Shrigley. Speaking about the video,  director Chris Shepherd had this say:

“When I was a kid, my mum wouldn’t let me go out much as it was so crazy where I grew up. I used to watch a lot of old TV. I had one tape of black-and-white Popeye cartoons that I’d watch over and over. I’ve always been really inspired by thirties animation, as there’s no rules and it’s completely surreal. Real-life objects would come to life and start doing crazy stuff.”

Here’s the video for ‘The Concept’.

Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner has an unexpected new electronic project called HeCTA, with fellow members Scott Martin and Ryan Norris also joining him. Comes September 18th, the trio will release their debut album, ‘The Diet’, via City Slang in Europe and via Merge in North America. HeCTA co-produced the album with Jeremy Ferguson and Morgan Geist and John McEntire (The Sea and Cake, Tortoise) lent a hand on mixing duties.
Kurt explained how HeCTA came to life in their website, mentioning a 78 RPM record he had come across featuring a 45-second monologue about weight loss, performed by the comedian Buddy Hackett, and the book Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture 1970–1979 by Tim Lawrence. “I saw parallels between the dance culture of that era and the indie-rock/punk/experimental music culture. It unlocked in my mind a genre of music long dormant in memory yet an influence so prevailing in a variety of current musical genres. Woe be it unto the man whose tastes are frozen forever, for given time, space, and understanding, such things become reborn and reimagined as we search for a creative kernel of truth.”
Kurt continues to describe the project:

“As HeCTA, we take our approach seriously and are respectfully aware of the great electronic music created throughout its history continuing into the present—so much so that when it came time to mix these recordings, we reached out to some of the central figures of the genre. Such greats as Morgan Geist, John McEntire, and Q all had a hand in shaping the refined sound we present to you. With invaluable creativity and engineering by Jeremy Ferguson at Battle Tapes in Nashville, we together created what we consider to be a collection of songs that move and move through you, from the dashboard to the dance floor, from Decatur to Dornburg, from Dorchester to Detroit.

Suck it up, hippies. This music is our attempt to extend the boundaries of our expression and have some fun. It’s not Americana, house, techno, trap, juke, or blaze. Why would it be? And like any good diet, it will be reviled then ultimately loved by all who give it a chance to work its way into their lives.”

September seems a long way away but we can already get a taste of what they’ll be throwing our way with the first single from the album, ‘Till Someone Gets Hurt’. Give it a listen now.