The Dust Warrior: “Automatic” – compelling in its dark, poetic lyricism and unflinching detail

The Dust Warrior together with Future Wax Records, launched the “24 Months of Fury” project in January 2016, in which each month he will release a new single. Currently the single “Automatic” is doing the rounds – Loaded with hooks, clever lines, and pot-smoking nuanced sentiment about the precarious transition into, and from poverty. The track is alternately funny and gut-wrenching sad, with just the right amount of edge, but always highly listenable.

Sheer brilliance in terms of the writing, The Dust Warrior is so far ahead of his rivals that comparisons seem pointless. “Automatic” is a track which genuinely transcends the barriers of its supposed genre. Like pretty much every The Dust Warrior song, it is totally compelling in its dark, poetic lyricism and unflinching detail, and the way in which it uncompromisingly combines anthemic post-hardcore with genuine alternative musical sophistication.

The track starts off with a sparse synth accompaniment and then The Dust Warrior’s rough-rider-styled vocals jump right into the foreground, before exploding into one of the best choruses of the last year. The cocky sheen of the lyrics “Fuck this dinghy bitch, I need a yacht (One foot in the gutter, one in the ditch)”, hides a tender core of bitterness and doubt – “I need to be a have, not a have not”. It’s so rare to hear a song with so many different levels to work on, especially one which sounds so good.

The truth is there’s so much to love about The Dust Warrior. The way that he deals so effectively and so poetically with subject matter most other artists or bands wouldn’t touch with a fifty-foot pole, and the way he just keeps coming out with classic one-liners – “Like a banker writing policy, I’ll be fine”. The brilliant musical touches, like the synth riff running in and out of the song, and the awesome assault vocals, which switch so smoothly between singing sweetly, to almost growling emotively.

The Dust Warrior is an artist with a hell of a lot of potential, and “Automatic” is a single which is fiercely intelligent, both delicate and explosive, and in short damn addictive. It’s a record which I can recommend almost unreservedly to anyone vaguely interested in post-hardcore.

More About: The Dust Warrior is a Los Angeles based producer and artist. He was the driving force of a trip-hop production duo in New York called Subtech (Durban Poison/Artemis Records) that was described by Mix Magazine as “like Beck with a probation officer”. Not much has changed since The Dust Warrior moved to Los Angeles. The Dust Warrior also writes and performs with the only known US Citizen French Pop-Punk band “Tour de France“. Tour de France will be releasing their third album in 2016.

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