Jesse Draxler has made an unforgettable mark on the visual art world, distinguishing himself through a murky, surreal, and highly unsettling style. Through his artwork, he’s depicted the decay of humanity, stretching himself to his limits to conjure a range of emotions in his viewers — introspection, discomfort, dread, paranoia. It all leads to wildly different interpretations, and that’s exactly the point.
It’s only fitting that his next project, Tongue of Angels, is just as painstakingly ambitious. It continues a similar thoroughline as Reigning Cement, where Draxler created field recordings and invited some of the most future-forward artists to manipulate them into fully realized songs. With Tongue of Angels, he evolves the concept, pushing the recordings into new spaces while maintaining the former’s biting, subversive ethos. This time, the tracks will unfold as immersive audio and visual experiences that tap a long list of collaborators, including Iggor Cavalera of Sepultura, Fatboi Sharif, God Is War, DJ Speedsick, Zola Jesus, Black Asteroid, and more.
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The first song, “The Wounds of Failure, The Pillars of Desire,” includes a contribution from La Puente four-piece Presser, a bruising teaser of what’s to come. Known for their raw meld of grindcore, noise, and powerviolence, the band annihilate convention and revel in unyielding intensity, unafraid to push themselves into unfamiliar spaces. Premiering with AP, the track comes with a video shot by Draxler over the past four years — a powerful, unfiltered look at OCD, gradually turning into a terrifying spiral as the track progresses. Draxler puts it best: “Hell is the eternal nightmare that is my mind.”
See the video for “The Wounds of Failure, The Pillars of Desire” below.