Why The Eye release a second single 'Inspirex' from upcoming album

Today sees the release of 'Inspirex', the second single taken from Why The Eye's new album of the same name. The song came to be after finding a meditation cassette at a flea market and a meeting between a Burkinabe griot and a musician from Brussels, who drew inspiration from these newly-discovered rhythms to launch the composition and added a dose of French Touch. The music video was shot at B.U.N.K, the band's Brussels lair, which also houses its label Exag Records (see the aerobics sequence) and was directed by Rafael Espinel.

Why the Eye is an experimental masked quartet from Brussels citing artists including The Residents, Snapped Ankles, Société Étrange, Kokoko!, Autechre, Boards Of Canada, Fulu Miziki and Charles Frégier's ‘Wilder Mann’ as influences. Describing their music as "Prehistoric Techno", Why The Eye are set to release their new album ‘Inspirex’ on the 4th October via Exag Records.

Releasing their self-titled debut album in 2017, Why The Eye has performed across a number of underground and experimental venues including Magasin 4, Ateliers Claus and Rockerill in Belgium, Sonic Protest and Gare des Mines in Paris and Cave 12 in Geneva alongside festivals including Festival Baignade Interdite, France, Le Festival de la Cité in Lausanne, Switzerland and Festival Hop Pop Hop, France.

Having formed in 2013, the band’s first scheduled gig was for Carnaval Sauvage – an illegal, alternative carnival held in Brussels, hence the masks – where participants dress up in homemade costumes, often made from recycled materials, then dance through the city. Designed to be ‘ungovernable’ but not disrespectful, the carnival is a rebellious tradition in the ‘Marolles’ flea market and antiques district, dating back to 1969’s Battle of Marolles. However, the gig never happened but the band decided to keep the masks.

On the recording of ‘Inspirex, band lead Damien Magnette says, “The album is live music based on energy. It has a chaotic side. How do you convey the chaotic, wild, animal energy of live music on record? My point of view is that to achieve this energy, you have to do exactly the opposite in the studio. A lot of layering. Lots of overdubs that we can't do live. It's all these elements that give the album its wildness.”

Why The Eye is Jean-Philippe de Gheest, Jean Paul Domb, Nico Gitto and Damien Magnette