Brighton's School Disco are diving headfirst into existential dread with 'Simulation III', a track that merges prog intricacy with psychedelic heft in a way that feels both vintage and urgent.
The new single finds the four-piece exploring darker, more meditative territory than before. Clocking in at 3:33, it drifts through a shuffling 6/8 groove laden with distant vocals and spindly guitar work before dissolving into fuzzy synth swells and a jagged, sporadic solo. There's a menacing quality to it - like a '70s psych record played through a distortion pedal, filtered through something more restless and contemporary.
"Simulation III came out real quick," says Laurence Underwood. "I was meant to put a different song forward, then this one sort of just presented itself. It sounded menacing to me, so I thought I'd have to match that with the lyrics. At the time, I was seeing a lot of people online talking about 'the simulation' and thought that the idea of actually believing that is pretty funny. Pair that with rewatching the Matrix movies and there you go, a song about living in a simulation."
The track is lifted from their forthcoming fourth album 'School Disco SDIV', recorded mostly live at Farm Road Studios with Jake Smallwood and Rory Lethbridge engineering, and mastered by Harry Hayes. Drawing from Black Sabbath, CAN, and sci-fi horror aesthetics, the record captures the band's natural flow while pushing into heavier, more experimental spaces.
School Disco have been carving out a reputation for intense live shows since forming, supporting the likes of Wolf Alice, Bo Ningen, and Frankie and the Witch Fingers, alongside newer acts like Lime Garden and Froth. With 'Simulation III', they're stepping further into their own strange, immersive world - one that's equal parts hypnotic and unsettling.
'Simulation III' is out now via Krautpop, stream in the player below.
