#cost of progress

We chase tomorrow, haunted by the night, Yet all we seek is forged within this breath. The meaning of life ignites through quiet fight, Here, in the present, between birth and death. We built our godly towers, piercing the sky, Yet lost ourselves within their cobweb of steel. The higher we ascended, the more we’d deny The quiet truths that only ancient Earth reveals. The Promethean ape, who…

Once we revered fire, our faithful friend, A spark to warm, a beacon through the night— Now flames descend, and cities meet their end, Our love for fire consumed in blinding light. Steel towers shudder, glass melts into bone, The sky is bruised by thunder’s iron psalm. We built our sanctuaries, sins to atone, But faithless walls dissolved before the storm. A president’s hand shakes, clutching the…

They raised their spires on self-serving lies, Stole rivers and felled forests for their gain. Each stone entombed the silence of what dies, While restless roots below prepared to reclaim. I drifted through the avenues of ash and dust, Where shadows gathered in the cracks of time. Bronze faces wept beneath a burnished crust, And distant chimes confessed the city’s crime. They wrote their stories…

The final fires flicker on the bones Of cities consumed by the creeping mold. Silent skyscrapers, stripped of flesh and phones, Stand sentinels to stories left untold. Forests reclaim the fractured, fallen roads, Roots writhing through the relics of regret. No hands remain to hoard or bear the loads— The debt of hubris nature won’t forget. Irony’s icy laughter licks the land, For every engine’s…

We mapped the stars with trembling, ink-stained hands, Convinced the earth would bow beneath our claim. We carved our names on granite and drifting sands, And raised proud cities, certain of their fame. We crowned ourselves the autocrats of the age, Declared all life our servant and our stage. We subdued the rivers, caged the restless breeze, And turned wild forests into memories. Yet every…

Electro-synth shoegazers, The Machine Room arrived on the prolific Edinburgh, Scotland music scene in 2010 as a five-piece made up of Tom Adam, John Bryden, Adie Emanuel, Scott Hitchings, and Ryan Marinello (Adam has since left and Cecilia Stamp has joined).

In the same way that New Order weave the bitter into the sweet, The Machine Room expertly craft succinct yet ethereal rhythms. Not afraid of showing off lush bass hooks combined with crystalline guitar lines over persistent arpeggios, they set an ideal backdrop to John Bryden's husky, falsetto vocals. Emotive yet restrained, The Machine Room know just how and when to pack a punch.

"Cost Of Progress" instantly draws the listener in through a sea of reverb-laced, post-punk goodness, then builds to soaring, moody crescendos. Touching on Twenty-First Century enuii and self-frustration, it is clear that this is a group not afraid to examine topical, yet timeless themes.

"Your Head On The Floor Next Door" is the most obviously reminiscent of vintage New Order with it swelling pop crescendos, yet featuring The Machine Room's own blend of bewitched, dulcet pop (not to mention wry sense of humor). Starting off with the lyrics, "So I've never felt so good since I sang 'Away In A Manger'/ Yet I've never felt so bad since I went down on a stranger," this listener was hooked.

Lyrically honest and sonically sophisticated, The Machine Room have already proven to be a formidable presence with an advanced understanding of their sonic realm. With hypnotically textured rhythms, not to mention a willingness to deviate from any assumed prescribed formula (think the jangly brilliance found in the likes of  House Of Love), they are well on their way to achieving a presence and distinct sound amongst the ranks of Errors and Wild Beasts.

The Machine Room released the EP "Love From A Distance" on March 5th. You can download it via Bandcamp, or stream some highlights below.

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