Henge Extra-Terrestrial Ravers Return for Extensive UK Live Dates This Autumn
HENGE are back with a new single and official video for “Self-Repair Protocol”, a featured highlight of their acclaimed 2023 album ‘Alpha Test 4’ (out now).
Through a vortex of glitchy 8-bit synthesisers and vocoded humanoid vocals, “Self-Repair Protocol” tells the tale of a malfunctioning robot that crash lands on an alien planet and embarks on a mission to repair itself.
Speaking about the single, HENGE frontman Zpor says:
“Self-Repair Protocol is a charming little vignette written from the perspective of a malfunctioning robot, which could read as a metaphor for self-care…”
The single arrives with a charming animated video courtesy of Katy-Anne Bellis and Collen Chandler. First-time directors, the duo employ traditional stop-motion techniques to bring HENGE's latest release to life. The video had already made the official selection for the Barcelona Indie Filmmakers Festival, Madrid Indie Film Festival and New York International Film Awards where it was a finalist. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/T7sVFB0ZJ2w
“Self-Repair Protocol” is cut from intergalactic prog-raver’s third album ‘Alpha Test 4’, a fresh collection of their definitive “cosmic dross” compositions. Receiving praise across the board, NARC Magazine championed the record’s “stimulating extra-terrestrial sounds” (⅘), Buzz Magazine its “eco-centric free party dance-music… absolutely worth your time”, while PROG hailed HENGE’s “blissed out, retro futuristic madness”.
Produced with Jim Spencer (New Order, Black Grape) and mastered at Abbey Road by Frank Arkwright (Arcade Fire, Joy Division, Blur), ‘Alpha Test 4' is available on Cosmic Dross Records now here: https://ffm.to/henge-alphatestfour
HENGE are now gearing up for a mammoth UK tour in the Autumn. Performing cuts from acclaimed new album ‘Alpha Test 4’ and more at a series of evening gigs, matinee performances, and after-parties, catch the band at these fixtures as follows:
HENGE - UK TOUR 2023
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22/09 The Rockin Chair, Wrexham
23/09 Lost Horizon, Bristol (+ matinee)
24/09 The Cornish Bank, Falmouth
26/09 The Phoenix, Exeter
27/09 South Street, Reading
28/09 Electric Ballroom, London
29/09 Joiners, Southampton
30/09 Concorde2, Brighton
04/10 Gulbenkian Arts Centre, Canterbury
06/10 Kanteena, Lancaster (+ afterparty)
07/10 Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek (+ matinee)
11/10 Hare and Hounds, Birmingham
12/10 Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
13/10 Esquires, Bedford
14/10 Club 85, Hitchin
18/10 St Stephen's Church, Ipswich UK
19/10 02 Academy, Leicester
20/10 Cobalt, Newcastle
21/10 Brewery Arts, Kendal (+ matinee)
26/10 Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
27/10 Stereo, Glasgow
01/11 Yellow Arch, Sheffield
02/11 The Crescent, York
03/11 The Brudenell, Leeds
04/11 Band on the Wall, Manchester (+ matinee)
10/11 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool
Support from: Dogshow - all dates.
Tickets on sale now - here:
https://www.hengemusic.com
*****
Since they landed on Earth seven years ago, HENGE have been delighting audiences across the UK and Europe. Their music - known as “Cosmic Dross" - escapes definition, but occupies a space between rave and prog rock that nobody knew existed - going ‘where no band has gone before’. Ultimately, HENGE spread a message of hope that leaves audiences feeling amused and uplifted in equal measure.
With a reputation for scintillating live performances, HENGE have won over audiences across the globe at festivals such as Glastonbury, Boomtown, Bluedot, Shambala, Beatherder, Fusion (DE), Down The Rabbit Hole (NL), Jungle Love (AU) and more - receiving the award for ‘Best Live Act’ at the Independent Festival Awards in the process.
Their unique debut album “Attention Earth!” was released in 2018, followed by 2020’s ‘ExoKosm’, which earned media support from the likes of BBC6 Music, PROG Magazine, Louder Than War and Buzz Magazine
Earlier this year, HENGE launched their brand new album ‘Alpha Test 4’. The band’s third, it delivers a collection of indescribable sounds garnered from far off worlds.
Side A contains six blistering, energetic tracks designed to stimulate and educate - each one taking the listener on a brief, adventurous musical encounter beyond their wildest imagination. It features the single “Get A Wriggle On”, a joyous electro/prog banger calling for immediate action to tackle the climate crisis looming over Earth, along with a glitchy vignette about malfunctioning robots called “Self Repair Protocol”. Side A also contains squelching paeans for the virtue of discovery, both in the galaxy (“Wanderlust”) and the mind (“Altered State”), as well as a trippy tribute to one of the most resilient creatures known to humans, “Tardigrades”.
The mind-expanding Side B, meanwhile, sees HENGE collate a batch of cosmic, melody-melting epics. Listeners will be taken on a psychedelic journey through the arpeggiated radiations of “Ra” to the Space Rock salute of Asteroid, arriving at the love letter to Earth that is “First Encounter”.
Zpor, front-being of HENGE, says:
"Alpha Test 4 is our third Planet Earth LP release. With each record we have sought to fine tune our extraterrestrial sounds for human ears, optimising these alien frequencies in order to more effectively access the pleasure sensors in the Sapien brain.
“We believe that the wisest lifeforms are always open to new learning, and we have been conducting our own studies on the human beings that we've encountered on Earth so far.
“We have discovered that exposure to this alien music can have a profound effect on the human nervous system, and have recorded an average increase of 72% in the happiness levels of human specimens attending our experiments."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
w/ https://www.hengemusic.com
