With their upcoming sixth studio album Wish Defense (incoming Feburary 7, 2025 on Trouble In Mind Records), Chicago rock trio FACS take a good, long look in the mirror to face themselves. FACS’ Brian Case notes that the album’s lyrical content revolves around doppelgängers or “doubles”, tackling the idea of facing yourself and observing your ideas and motivations.
Look no further than the album’s title track: “Enter the mirror / Double walker / An intimate / Wish defense / Is it real? / You beside me / The detail / Terrifying / Abject self / Your grief / A public / Performance.” Case lays out the entire album’s theme in one stanza; Are your actions and emotions your true self? Or are they a performative aspect of that “other” person you put forward? Case says that ultimately the sentiment is “…don’t let the bastards get you down, there’s something beyond this moment, like hope— but not in the naive belief that ultimately people are good.”
The duality of “man” is a subject that has been explored in art for centuries, from writings of the Bible to Descartes, all the way up to filmmakers like Lynch, Cronenberg, and Carpenter. Who is your “true self” and what do they want?
FACS’ Wish Defense is also the last album engineered by Steve Albini. Two days were recorded at Electrical Audio in early May of 2024 before Steve’s untimely passing, with renowned engineer and friend Sanford Parker stepping in to finish the session 24 hours later, tracking the last bits of vocals and overdubs. Longtime collaborator John Congleton mixed the album as Albini would have, in Electrical Audio’s A room, off the tape, using Albini’s notes about the session.
Are you rocking with this one?
