The Itch Rage Against Built-In Decay On ‘Planned Obsolescence’
The Itch have released ‘Planned Obsolescence’, their first new music since April’s debut album ‘It’s The Hope That Kills You’, and it’s a song about being built to break.
Long a fixture of their live set, the track runs capitalism-induced existential dread through a mix of big beat and electroclash. Simon and Georgia see it as a song about design with a shelf life, and the nagging sense that people are made to wear out too. “Eventually we all become as replaceable as our gadgets,” they say, but until then there’s pretending and fun to be had. In their words, it’s for anyone who keeps saying “One day...” when that day never arrives.
It follows September’s ‘It’s The Hope That Kills You (Hopeless Version)’, the first studio recording made with the full live band, and a document of how the album’s title track has changed on the road. The debut itself arrived through a joint deal between Fiction Records and I OH YOU, and finds the pair pairing dancefloor fillers with disenchanted pop songwriting. Remixes of its singles have come from The Twins, 1-800 GIRLS and Tom Sharkett.
The live side has been busy. This year The Itch have played Green Man, Forwards, The Great Escape, Haldern, Mutations and Dot to Dot. At Green Man they filled the Rising Stage for a Sunday night headline slot, then took to the decks for a surprise late set alongside Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, Fcukers and Another Country $$$$. Their single ‘No More Sprechgesang’ has also been confirmed for the soundtrack of EA’s FC27 (the game formerly known as FIFA).
Next up is Iceland Airwaves on 7th November, followed by a London all-dayer at Public Assembly at The Cause on 28th November and a secret London show on 2nd December. Fans can text SCRATCH to +44 7466248475 for ticket presale access and exclusive previews.
'Planned Obsolescence' is out now via Fiction Records / I OH YOU.
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