Review: DRIFT. ‘Violence For Your Furs’

It’s only when Nathalia Bruno, aka DRIFT. joined God Unknown Records roster that I sat up and took notice, as hitherto I had not heard of the project. Indeed, they’ve been around a fair while and have been putting out music for over a decade, debuting in 2015 with the Black Devotion EP, followed by 2017’s Genderland EP, debut full-length 2020’s Symbiosis, the 2022 The Nature of Things EP and finally 2024’s 11 Points In Time. Violence For Your Furs – a play on The Velvet Underground’s track Venus In Furs – therefore marks the band’s third full-length release.

Originally a one-woman affair, they have expanded to include Max Oscarnold on guitar, Finn Kidd on drums and Lucy Lucifer on keys, along with Sergio Rotman, who assists on saxophone. The album’s theme, according to the PR, is that it’s set against ‘the backdrop of East London, the song follows a cast of drifters, outcasts, and survivors moving through scenes of chaos, addiction, violence, and fleeting human connection’. Sounds like a fun ride, let’s get on board…

And The Angel Was Dark comes across like Siouxsie Sioux fronting Public Image Limited or TSOL’s cover of The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band’s Suppose They Give A War And No One Comes. Much like the latter, there’s a tribal element but given a moody, post-punk makeover. Opening tracks can be critical indicators as to whether an album sinks or swims, and in this case it’s most certainly a resounding success.

Rough Rider immediately reminds the listener of Suicide’s Ghost Rider, the haunting quality of that song, as well as the repetitive, minimalist synthesiser lines and use of repetition, are particularly notable. Prior to the album’s release, it served as a preview track, and its overall sound and vibe proved a deciding factor in me choosing to review the record, an instant classic. Fool No. 9 has a little of the art-rock and experimental spirit that could be found on any of David Bowie’s Berlin-era works, particularly Low. One could also draw comparisons to Iggy Pop’s less raucous, darker, introspective numbers such as Nightclubbing, wow, this is sublime stuff.

you could easily envisage this going down a storm at Andy Warhol’s Factory in the late ’60s…

Midnight is a little more upbeat; it is pure ‘80s The Cure, especially albums like Seventeen Seconds and tracks like A Forest, before Robert Smith discovered his poppier, sunnier side. The use of sax is tasteful, providing us with some classier Roxy Music style glamour. This album just gets better and better by the minute, and it was already pretty darn great in the first place.

The aforementioned The Velvet Underground make an appearance on Each Fate, particularly their debut with Nico. It feels lo-fi with an avant-garde improvisational quality; you could easily envisage this going down a storm at Andy Warhol’s Factory in the late ‘60s. An interesting curveball which prevents the album from potentially becoming a one-dimensional affair – not that there was any danger of that happening. Lights Out sees the saxophone being employed once again, but this time the moody jazzy blues-rock of Morphine is what is being summoned, providing a suitably downbeat conclusion to Violence For Your Furs.

The only criticism that could be levied at DRIFT.’s latest is its short running time, especially as I could have easily sat through another half hour. I’d say that it’s easily Nathalia’s strongest effort to date and that their older material, while good, felt like a dress rehearsal for what’s been presented to us here. A strong contender for my end-of-year top ten and the number one spot.

Label: God Unknown Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Reza Mills