PREMIERE: Peel Unveil New Single “Climax”

This morning, Los Angeles duo Peel—Sean Cimino and Isom Innis—have released “Climax,” the latest single from their forthcoming debut album Acid Star, which is set to arrive on March 29 via Innovative Leisure. The track continues to build on the band’s unique convergence of post-punk, electronica and psychedelia. Its lo-fi palette is reminiscent of the Blog Era, while Cimino’s vocals harken back to New Order’s transition from Joy Division. “Climax” is glitchy, eerie and, most of all, a vibrant chapter of Peel’s evolving introduction.

“The sound of ‘Climax’ harkens back to our EP, but I think the spirit and groove moves us forward into the club / dance aspect of our album. We wanted this to be a fun danceable post-punk track that everyone at LA’s Chinatown ‘Grandstar’ would want to dance to,” Cimino says.

“The sonic landscape of ‘Climax’ nods to our post-punk roots, while the spirit and rhythm propel us forward into the realm of club and dance music. The lyrics are inspired by the Gaspar Noe movie Climax and a bizarre rave I went to in Mexico City,” explains Innis. “The movie is about a dance party gone wrong because someone spikes the punch with acid and everyone freaks out, but our song flips the perspective—a psychedelic dance party gone right where everyone has fun. At the rave I was navigating this really dark dilapidated industrial building trying to find the basement where the dance floor was. It was like a crowded maze with all these hazardous drop offs and dead ends. That tone came out in ‘Climax,’ the alarming but exciting feeling of dancing into the unknown.”

Listen to “Climax” below.