DEADLETTER on Camus, creative purpose, and second album 'Existence Is Bliss' • Interview • DIY Magazine

There is a difference, Zac Lawrence notes, between existing and living. To Zac, these concepts do not sit comfortably next to each other on a spectrum. Rather they are “polar opposites”. This notion of separating the two is seared into the upcoming second release from his Yorkshire art-punk outfit, DEADLETTER. Born out of bad decisions, grief, and stark self-interrogation, ‘Existence is Bliss’ details an attempt to live meaningfully in what Zac calls an “unbelievably impure” world. Not just politically or culturally, but personally too.

In recent years, DEADLETTER have carved out a position in the British indie landscape as a group that lives and dies on stage. To see DEADLETTER live is to bear witness less to a musical performance, but more a dystopian sermon - only more biting and with a better soundtrack. Dancefloor drums are blanketed by the snap of classic post-punk guitarplay, while manic sax wails and stark, matter of fact vocals are delivered at nose-distance. This reputation as a stellar live act formulated in the band’s acclaimed first record, ‘Hysterical Strength’ - a fervent attempt at capturing this frenetic live energy as closely as possible, but one that came at the cost of relentless touring and a sense of playing on autopilot.

With ‘Existence is Bliss’, the band are taking a different approach, one that values a sense of patience and contemplation. While maintaining the groove and punch of their previous LP, ‘Existence is Bliss’ is expansive and open. Take only the album’s lead single, ‘To The Brim’, as example. Acoustic flourishes and pastoral sampling emphasise a sense of space and breadth, providing balance to the relentless drive the group have become famed for.

“80-90% of these songs have never been played live before,” shares drummer Alfie Husband as he joins our Zoom call from his family home. “The way we write is a collaborative experience and it gets worked out in a rehearsal room, so there’s always a live element to all of it,” he explains, but this latest release has been a change in pace for the group. “I think what new material that’s recently been rehearsed/ recorded/written does is make you very rooted,” adds Zac. “It makes you very self-aware and I think self-awareness can be a very positive thing when you’re creating.”

“[Existentialism] looks like taking the steering wheel — not allowing yourself to be driven. To be the driver of your own life, and truly live it.”

— Zac Lawrence

It’s this self-awareness that fuels the philosophy behind ‘Existence is Bliss’. While writing, repeated themes and ideas continued to surface. Zac, lead vocalist and lyricist, noted these patterns only too pertinently. “I had a bit of a crisis with myself when I was trying to work out how you could pursue something and have it totally devoid of any impurity,” he looks out the window, rubbing his face. “And I realised it wasn’t possible.”

For Zac, impurity touched everything. From everyday chores like going to the shop to buy sausages to grander conflicts like artists being at the behest of corrupt streaming giants, there were always “nefarious ties” holding them up. Such existential malaise appears to be ubiquitous. Common talk in pubs, at school gates, and through offices across the country is all too aware of our worship of cheap doomscroll dopamine, while we long for distraction from the horrors of the geopolitics and economic insecurity we can rarely understand, let alone affect.

But it is this idea of distraction and running from the hardships of life that is the affront, Zac observes. A diligent reader, on writing the new material for the record, Zac began studying the works of philosopher and writer, Albert Camus. Camus’ philosophy of existentialism speaks of an alternative to a reality doomed to wade in the mire of nihilism. Rather than move away from the slings and arrows of existence, it is better for the individual and the collective to embrace hardship, “acknowledging life’s meaningless, but still striving to get up every morning and actually DO something,” Zac exclaims.

He continues, shifting forward in his seat. “It looks like taking the steering wheel - not allowing yourself to be driven. To be the driver of your own life, and truly live it. All while acknowledging you’re aware of life’s misgivings and the turmoil that goes on around you and goes on much further from where you are.” He takes a breath, sitting back and pausing. “But I believe that our role as creatives is to take something like that and spin it into something which might be regarded as tasteful or palatable - that’s what we’ve tried with the new album.”

“I think people are the most important thing, surrounding yourself with people that love you and you love back. That’s the best way to cope.”

— Alfie Husband

This purpose to accept the trials before us and weather them is the guiding force behind ‘Existence is Bliss.’ Where opener, ‘Purity I’, wrestles with the panic of acknowledging the pervasiveness of impurity, the record traverses these fears, building up hope and resolve on ‘Cheers!’, before dealing with them on the personal level on closer, ‘Meanwhile in a Parallel’.

Weathering personal hardship would also be something intimately familiar to the group: Alfie’s father, the artist Steve Husband, had passed away just before the group went into the studio. “I think your dad was quite a big presence during the recording of the album,” suggests bassist George Ullyott to Alfie, before telling how the band would share Steve’s art between each other during the recording process. Alfie quietly nods in agreement, before returning to the subject of battling impurity: “I think people are the most important thing, surrounding yourself with people that love you and you love back. That’s the best way to cope.”

Strength is not garnered from reading a book or from an Instagram Reel. It is something born out of friendship, belonging and the ability to choose how to live in the face of fear - something the members of DEADLETTER know only too well. “I know we talk about the impurities and the bleakness, but I don’t think that’s generally a theme that I get when listening to the record,” George adds calmly. “There’s a feeling of hope that you could get from a lot of these songs.” The others nod in agreement. Despite the weight of impurity, hope persists and so must we.

‘Existence Is Bliss’ is out 27th February via So Recordings.

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