Los Angeles rock trio Automatic have dropped off their propulsive new track, “Is It Now?”, alongside a lighthearted music video. They’ll also release their album of the same name later this year via Stones Throw.
Having released 2 albums since forming nine years ago, Automatic knew they wanted to do something different for their next album. For Is It Now? they collaborated with the producer Loren Humphrey (Cameron Winter, Nice As Fuck, Arctic Monkeys) to build on the sound of previous albums Signal and Excess – minimalist yet danceable songs which they describe as “deviant pop”.
After they finished touring around their last record, 2022’s Excess, each member of the LA trio pursued their own interests: Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals) honed her skills as a producer; Halle Saxon Gaines (bass, vocals) enrolled in botany classes; and Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) got married, moved to the country, and began caring for horses.
The title track from “Is It Now?” celebrates being authentically yourself. Its call-and-response chorus vies between two points of view – the rebellious perspective and the mass culture one. Izzy explains that, increasingly, “the thing I think about the most on a day-to-day basis is: how do you have a sense of joy while the world seems to be collapsing, and you feel so powerless?”
She adds, “I feel like, as American citizens, we have a responsibility to pull the levers to stop the machine. ‘Is It Now?’ is about trying to not feel like a victim in this environment. It’s important to still feel a sense of joy, even amongst all the horrible shit going on in the world.”
