Aisles Release Video for New Single “Thanks to Kafka”
Photo by Ignacio Galvez
Chilean progressive rock band Aisles have released the video for their latest single “Thanks to Kafka” on YouTube. The single, available through Presagio Records on all digital platforms, is a preview of the group's new studio album, which will be released during the first few months of 2022.
Presented in a cinematic wide format, the video follows an anonymous man trapped in the foreboding confines of a shadowy parking garage, wandering endlessly until he meets a mysterious figure that leads him toward an extraordinary revelation. It's the latest in a series of narratively-driven visuals from the band, and can certainly be described as "Kafka-esque."
"Thanks to Kafka" was influenced by Lou Reed, the darker side of Porcupine Tree and the melancholy of Radiohead. It is also the first single where guitarist Germán Vergara takes the lead on vocals and marks a stylistic shift in relation to the three previously released singles, “Fast”, “Disobedience” and “Megalomania.” “'Thanks to Kafka' is totally introspective. It is based on the idea of people who did not find answers to their existential problems or who lost the battle of life,” says Vergara. The writer Franz Kafka was the perfect reference to define this internal struggle, because "he speaks from defeat and approaches it from those dark places.”
The track was recorded at Estudio del Sur, produced and mixed by Angelo Marini and Germán Vergara and mastered by American engineer Randy Merrill (Muse, Paul McCartney, Beck, Liam Gallagher). It is the fourth single from the band's new studio album, following “Fast”, which came out on June 4, “Disobedience”, released on July 15, and “Megalomania”, on August 27.
The cover was created by designer Jean Pierre Cabañas from Médu1a (winner of the 2017 Pulsar Award for Best Art of the Year for “El vuelo del Pillán” by Kuervos del Sur) and the video was directed by Loretta Castelletto (Princess Alba, Soulfia, Polima Westcoast). “Both on the cover and in the video we want to pay tribute to Kafka,” says Vergara. “In the image there is that skull with a hole like a person who committed suicide by shooting themselves and the cockroach symbolizing depression; and in the video we want to represent the absurdity and the lack of answers”.
The group, formed by Germán Vergara, Felipe Candia (drummer), Rodrigo Sepúlveda (guitar), Juan Pablo Gaete (keyboard), Israel Gil (vocalist) and Daniel Concha (bass), has finished recording their fifth studio album, which will be released during the next months. The new album leaves behind the concept and sound of “Hawaii” (2016) in favor of a more direct and powerful sound influenced by bands like Porcupine Tree, Rush and Animals As Leaders. “We have done a very exhaustive job. We put pressure on ourselves to change our paradigm,” says the producer and guitarist.
About Aisles
Originally from Santiago, Chile and with four acclaimed studio albums, Aisles have become the most important South American progressive band in the last two decades. Their intricate melodies and sonic openness reflect their incomparable music approach. The group has played in North and South America, and Europe and toured extensively in Chile, opening for iconic bands such as Marillion and Focus.
In 2005, Aisles released their debut album, "The Yearning", in Chile and the U.S. It was recognized for its elegant and delicate melodic work, especially on epic songs such as "The Wharf that Holds His Vessel" and "Gray." In 2009, their second album, "In Sudden Walks", inspired by existentialist literature and theater, was nominated for Best Foreign Album at the Prog Awards in Italy. The group also participated in the 11th version of the Progressif Crescendo Rock Festival in France. Their third record, “4:45 AM”, which investigated human loneliness, received rave reviews and was ranked among the best albums of 2013 in numerous progressive rock media.
Their latest album, released in July 2016, is “Hawaii”, a conceptual double LP that narrates the life of humanity in space after the destruction of Earth, was chosen among the best albums of the year by several publications, including Prog (England), NeoProg (France), Headbangers Latinos (Mexico), Aural Moon (USA) and Rockaxis (Chile). The success of the album allowed them to tour Europe, the United States, and Mexico.
In 2018, as a way of closing the era of "Hawaii", they released the EP "Live from Estudio del Sur", along with four videos recorded live, now available on YouTube. After the departure of their original vocalist, Sebastián Vergara, at the end of 2018, Aisles returned in September 2020 with a new singer, Israel Gil, and reignited their artistic evolution by releasing a new version of their song “Smile of Tears”, from the 2009 album "In Sudden Walks". The band will release their fifth album in 2022.