Engineering Bureau and the emotional darkwave decay of "Walk Into The Ocean"

 

"walk into the ocean looking for a piece of me"

Malaysia based Engineering Bureau is shrouded in mystery and that feels appropriate given that the overarching theme of this musical project is the loss of self or, at least, the loss of the individual within the broader context of society especially societies that are increasingly being controlled by those governments we elect (or don't). We consume the opiates of the masses, largely data and are farmed for our data. It is as if we are data now, the stuff of so many Orwellian science fiction parables.

The sound on "Walk Into The Ocean" with it's darkwave affections does have (to me) a post punk swing to it, a feeling I get from the vocal aesthetic that feels more artfully poised and chewed on than a lot of Gothic wave or electronic indie music. As I am oftentimes rooted in the 70's and 80's, the vox tone here, brooding but wide eyed, reminds me of Stan Ridgway a bit (Wall Of Vodoo) in it's guttural yet art pop wail.

Engineering Bureau shares:

[Written whilst trapped in an airport lounge for 4 days in Casablanca, it is a commentary on our disassociation with reality reaching tipping point - a modern day “Piano Man”.

It's about being so absorbed by coping with pain that my wasted life slips by unnoticed, losing pieces of myself along the way until I realize too late I have missed the chance to leave my mark on an ever shrinking world as I am trapped in my own mind. That I will die forgotten as entropy takes its inevitable toll and I slowly disintegrate, decaying and dissolving into the ocean of pain I spent my whole life trying to escape.]

Dark times produce dark themed music, art but as long as we don't lost the light we win.

-Robb Donker Curtius

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EB explores the human condition and our relationship with technology in observation of a generation at the precipice of unmitigated technological revolution in a world with a glossier and friendlier sheen than Orwell would have seen in his mind’s eye. One where individualism erodes into a headless and faceless amorphism. A world with an increasingly engineered collective mindset numbed by our proclivity to seek constant validation. One where we may no longer exist as self, merging into each other in a raging storm of data.

Engineering Bureau, Malaysia based, electro rock, indie rock, darkwave, synths and machine beats, new wave, post punk, Indie Electronic, Gothic wave, "Walk Into The Ocean"