Information Society Return With New Single 'Room 1904'

Gearing up for the release of their eighth album ODDfellows (Hakatak International Records) on August 6, 2021, INFORMATION SOCIETY (or INSOC as they are referred to by fans) is releasing their latest single "Room 1904" which electro tome Rockdafuqout calls quite appropriately a "vintage-style pop-music glitter-bomb." Reminiscent of the New Romantics-era of pop, the majestic track signals INSOC's return to the music forefront.

"'Room 1904' is one of our favorites and definitely the poppiest song on the new album," says founder/producer/synths Paul Robb about the head-turning track. "It's a melancholy song at heart about unattainable love and missed connections, but like all the best sad songs (we think), it's actually pretty bouncy uptempo."

A centerpiece for an album rife with centerpieces, "Room 1904" finds the band at their primal best - finding a melodic hook and amplifying it soaring heights. "Sonically, the idea was to have the synth arpeggios and string machine melody that form the heart of the track hearken back to the earliest days of post-Moroder synthpop," he adds. "It's also one of the few Information Society songs to prominently feature an electric guitar."

Adds vocalist Kurt Larson, "Room 1904 was one of the tracks which Paul gave me to put on lyrics and melody. I tried to create a series of upward gestures, as a sort of metaphor for striving and yearning." Anchored by a driving, propulsive beat and festooned with Larson's distinctive super-crisp vocals, the track is classic INSOC, armed with enough meaty hooks to snag fans old and new. "'Room 1904' is one of those songs where the track came first," he explains. "I wrote the original track in 2019, and it was my fourth song of the year, so according to my super-OCD file system, I called it '1904.' When I sent the track to Kurt to write the top line, he was amazed because he had already been writing a set of lyrics called 'Room 1904' about a doomed romance of his past. So... kismet!"

From the freestyle trappings of "Would You Like Me If I Played A Guitar" to the Brit-flavoured electropop of "World Enough" to the majestic darkwave of "Nothing Prevails" to the slinky pop of "Down in Flames," ODDfellows treats each genre as a different colored thread woven into a rich and vivid tapestry. "Everyone always has their own favorites on an album, but for me 'The Mymble's Daughter' is a high point," admits Robb of the orchestral pop closer. "We don't often write love songs, but when we do, they are always dedicated to Finnish cartoon characters from the 1950s. Also, 'Grups' has a special place for me. Composed exclusively of found lyrics (you guess the source), this one could be thought of as our pandemic song."

Crowned "absolute legends of synth-pop, electronic, MTV Generation, and, above all, original music," by Jammer Zine, INSOC returns to the original incarnation of the band intact with founding members Paul Robb on synths, Kurt Larson on vocals and bassist James Cassidy. Zeke Prebluda (aka Falcotronik), who has been performing live with the band since 2009 joined the band as the official fourth member in 2019.

Listen here:

Photo Credit: Jonathan Shelgosh

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