Setting the tone with an enigmatic riser, Xylaroo open their single, Transhuman Dreams with the visual lyrics, “Young bodies burn in the heat of the sun, a river wraps into snake, the scales fall away and they genereration, turns with the tides with the wind…”
The song expands with keys, celestial and industrial textures, whilst sisters Coco and Holly deliver a conceptual song about accepting the finitude of life.
Xylaroo recorded the song on a podcast interview with social philosopher and founder of Social Epistemology, Professor Steve Fuller on Podsongs, which is a podcast where musicians interview motivating people as inspiration for a new song.
Speaking on the meaning of Transhuman Dreams, Xylaroo confirm that, “The track is about the ethics of transhumanism, the temptation of living forever, and what makes our limited time on earth so special.”
We love the side-chained and atmospheric vocal delivery, which has us completely hypnotized, whilst the composition and lyricism “toys between two ideas: living forever via transhuman means or accepting the finitude of life.”
After the Podsongs interview, which featured Xylaroo band member Holly Chant. Xylaroo worked remotely and in collaboration with Podsongs creator and host Jack Stafford and his band. Inspired by Professor Steve Fuller, Holly wrote the lyrics and melody, the bare bones of the song and Jack and his band gave it flesh and colour.
The composition is high concept in nature, and fans of Lorde and Lana Del Rey will be able to connect with Transhuman Dreams. We particularly vibed with the strings that build in the last third of the song whilst Xylaroo sing about the ideology of “human improvement”.
Xylaroo got started in Maidstone, Kent in the mid-2000s but its roots and branches can also be traced to the places the girls grew up in and later lived: Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Philippines Sri Lanka and now east London.
Over the last few years the band has supported Mika, Frank Turner and Pup on tours around Europe. They have also supported Will Varley and Matt Berry and the Maypoles on UK tours and Meilyr Jones.
We are in awe of the intellectual nature of Xylaroo and feel that their commentary is much needed in this day and age. We have added Transhuman Dreams to our New Music Spotlight playlist, whilst we continue to stream their wider discography.