I’m opening this week’s newsletter with a note of thanks to all our subscribers: Thank you!
Punk Rock Bach hit 200+ subscribers earlier this week and I couldn’t be happier. No, it’s not 10,000 readers after 5 months, but it is 200 music lovers who sit down each week to learn about how a musician puts an album together or how the artist’s creative process is executed.
Two hundred people have said “I want this in my inbox each week.” I don’t take that for granted and I’m aiming to up the newsletter’s game when it comes to interviews and weekly content.
And with that in mind, I’m hitting pause this week on the “how I’m listening” Q&A. I’m not getting rid of the piece, but rather moving it to a recurring feature to give some of these in-depth interviews more room to breathe.
And we’ve got a solid interview that needs that breathing room this issue. I spoke with Colin Newman and Malka Spigel from the post-punk group Immersion about their upcoming album.
Onward!
Colin Newman and Malka Spigel examine the modern search for approval in new album
Colin Newman and Malka Spigel have thoughts on modern narcissism in Western society.
“I mean, people’s obsession with followers and likes,” Spigel said. “We’re all victims of it. But at least we look at it and say, ‘You know, this is stupid.’”
Spigel and Newman — the musical duo known as Immersion — address the subject in the track “We Don’t Need Your Validation” on their upcoming album, “What is Lost Will Return.” The record is set to debut on Sept. 4 via the band’s swim~ record label.
While the track is a critique of modern-day vanity, Newman said audiences shouldn’t interpret the song as a declaration shunning friendships. Instead, it addresses the people whose attention should not be paramount in one’s life.
“Do you really care that this person who you’ve never heard of and you don’t know likes your post on Instagram or not?” Newman said. “I mean, they’re not real people.”
Moving from anger to positivity
“What is Lost Will Return” is the duo’s latest record, following 2025’s “WTF??” But Newman said the duo has a history that goes back decades.
“Immersion started in the early ‘90s as a classic electronic duo, and we were that for quite a few years,” he said. “But then we started collaborating with people, and people started bringing different things to the mix.”
He said as they realized they could bring in elements such as guitars and vocals, the pair felt like there were no rules.
“We could be whatever [we] wanted to be in the way that we wanted to be, and partly because we’re confident of our own ability to do things that we’re… You know, it’s not going to be endlessly compared to other things that we’ve done because it has its own innate style,” he said.
The latest album is somewhat of a pivot from the attitude of “WTF??” Spigel said that album had a bit more frustration with the state of the world behind it.
“‘What the Fuck’ was kind of anger about what’s going on in the world, and the shock of how bad it got,” Spigel said. “And I would say our next album is more sort of reflective and trying to be positive in a chaotic world.”
The pair have hosted a weekly radio show — Swimming in Sound — for six years, on which they play new music from new artists. Newman said they’ve started seeing a throughline in much of what they were presenting during the broadcasts.
“We’re starting to see a common theme of people coming onto this page of saying, ‘Okay, the world’s going to hell in a handbag. Are we going to make it worse, or are we going to try and bring positive energy to try and help make this world a better place?’” he said. “You can do what you can do. It’s limited what you can do as an artist, but as Malka said, you know, there’s only so many times you can say ‘what the fuck?’ before you have to say, ‘Okay, what do we say? What are we about?’”
Using the spoken word
The upcoming album includes tracks, such as “Nephology” and the title track “What is Lost Will Return,” that incorporate spoken-word elements. Newman said that style of delivery “goes back a long way.”
He said there’s a track on the duo’s 2024 EP “Nanocluster, Vol. 2” — the song titled “Not About Me” — which was the first time he wrote something he felt and decided to speak it on the track.
“There’s no attempt really at doing poetry in a way,” he said. “It’s just literally talking.”
Spigel added, “It’s a very direct way of just saying what you want to say.”
Newman said the earlier album “WTF??” included some chanting, which he said was “talking together in a rhythmic way.”
“But these other things [on the latest album] were just me talking, and it’s a great contrast,” he said. “Malka has an incredibly beautiful voice, and it’s hard for me to compete with that sometimes.”
To which Malka replied, “Nonsense.”
Immersion’s new album “What is Lost Will Return” is set to release on Sept. 4 via the band’s own swim~ label. You can pre-order the album, on vinyl and CD, via the label’s Greedbag website. The duo is set to perform live at Rough Trade Liverpool on Sept. 9, according to the band’s website.
What I’m listening to…
I’m in a funky mood this week.
Not “funky” like quirky…but “funk” in the style of George Clinton.
“Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow” — the 1970 album from Clinton’s Funkadelic band — just had a reissue via Org Music. The music label is releasing at least two of Funkadelic’s ‘70s records, with “Maggot Brain” set to release on Sept. 11.
I ordered “Free Your Mind…” and received it in the mail on Monday and have already listened to it a few times. The music is, indeed, funky and somewhat fast-paced. Interesting guitar riffs and lyrics that get stuck in your head for a minute.
“Open up your funky mind and you can fly,” for example. “The kingdom of heaven is within.”
It’s a fun album and makes me eager to listen to “Maggot Brain” in full (I’ve already pre-ordered).
Recommended.
Thanks for reading this week’s Punk Rock Bach! We’re back next Thursday with an interview with Bruise Bath’s Zak Krone ahead of the band’s latest album. See you next Thursday!