Since their inception in early 2012, London-based alt-rock band Brain Ape has consistently pushed the envelope, both musically and thematically, to create music that’s innovative, unorthodox and thoroughly original. Now a duo consisting of Minky Très-vain (a descendent of both Sir Francis Drake and Sir Christopher Wren) on guitar & vocals and Sol Alex Albret (descended from the Vikings) on bass, they’ve released music rather intermittently over the years, but their discography includes three albums, Dara O’ in 2014, Auslander and Ausländer, an all-acoustic album featuring five tracks from the original plus three new tracks, both in 2017, along with several singles. I reviewed Auslander, which you can read here, as well as several singles, most recently their unusually-titled “mcmx. drawing room”, which you can read here. 

Whereas their earlier sound was strongly influenced by grunge acts like Nirvana, their newer music is now influenced by contemporary pop and hip-hop acts like Billie Eilish, Childish Gambino, and Denzel Curry. They’ve also never shied away from tackling cultural and sociopolitical issues, and as such, over the past two years have released a series of singles exploring the rise of nationalism in the West and the glorification of false icons. Beginning with “mcmi. fenchurch king”, followed by “mcmx. drawing room”, Brain Ape has now released the third installment or chapter of songs within this narrative, “mcmx. downing street“, which will be included on their forthcoming third album SHREWD, BRITANNIA, due for release in November. They purposely released the single on the 3rd of July, on the eve of the July 4th General Election in the UK.

The band states the song is “an attack on corrupt modern politics, whilst keeping a keen eye on history, legacy, and accountability.” With a title named for the famed London street where the official residence of the British Prime Minister is located, as well as references to George Orwell and his dystopian writings, the song’s lyrics dive deeper into the story of Eric Tunglsson: son of the Auslander first introduced in “mcmi. fenchurch king”.

Curious about these characters, I asked Minky for clarification. He responded “the characters are a selection from a cast of people we’ve been writing about since the very beginning. Way back in 2012, the first mention of these people was included in the ‘Dead at 20’ EP that we were a part of all those years ago. Since then we’ve dropped a plethora of ambiguous material about these people, most notably on our second album ‘Auslander’. All the clues are there, and there’s plenty for people to sink their teeth into, but over the coming years we’ve decided to release more details with lesser ambiguity. When we release our third album, ‘SHREWD, BRITANNIA’, a lot more will become obvious, but even then we have plans to release more information after that. Like with everything Sol and I do, it’s a slow game but it’ll all pay off once the stars align.”

Like all their music, “mcmx. downing street” is a fascinating and trippy song, and more melodic than its two predecessors. The song kicks off with Minky singing the opening verse, with his seductive voice ending with an almost menacing breathy “ha” as he sings the words “Brittania” over a thumping bassline, accompanied by spritely synths. Then a sensuous throbbing dance beat takes over, overlain with extremely gnarly psychedelic guitars and sharp percussion that erupt in the delightfully edgy choruses. Everything turns darker at song’s end, when Minky’s echoed vocals turn downright savage over a fearsome backdrop of shredded guitars, grinding bass and crashing cymbals. It’s an incredibly impactful and most satisfying sonic feast for the senses!

Run, rum, run

He is Britannia
Run, run
We shall Lionise him

Oh well, whatever, we never did mind when he lusts
(Shame)
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind, can we trust?
(Shame)
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind all the greed
(Shame)
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind, can he bleed?
(Shame)
Oh well, Orwell, we never did read

Tension rising, air is blinding, he's igniting, costs are climbing
Sun is setting, still they're betting on the Lion
Is he lying? Ha

Oh well, whatever, we never did mind when he lusts
(Shame)
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind, can we trust?
(Shame)
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind all the greed
(Shame)
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind
Oh well, whatever, we never did mind, can he bleed?
(Shame)
Oh well, Orwell, we never did read

Son of the Auslander
He is our king
We rule Britannia
God save the king

Brain Ape have also included a seven-minute piece “mcmi. fenchurch king, drawing room, downing street”, a seamless combination of their last three singles, as a B-side to “mcmx. downing street”.

Also curious about the unusual video, which stars Minky as Eric Tunglsson, Sol as Wyn Pfaird and former bandmate and The Kid and I band frontman Jacob Powell as Trin O’ Gealach, I asked Minky about what they are trying to convey. He responded: “Sol and I put a lot of planning into the video for this single. Originally, we had floated the idea of shooting various location shots, some footage of the band performing in studio, some live footage, as well as the footage that has been included in the final video. But when we sat down with some trial edits we felt as though a busy video countered the blunt nature of the single, so we made the decision to strip back the music video to let the lyrics breathe more. It also helps balance the b-side which we released in tandem with this single, where the singles ‘fenchurch king’ and ‘downing street’ book end the busier, more conceptual ‘drawing room’. In many ways, the structure of that b-side mirrors those of classical symphonies’ first movements, which is not a coincidence.”

Here are “mcmx. downing street” and “mcmi. fenchurch king, drawing room, downing street” on Spotify:

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