The Horrors’ Faris Badwan and Josh Hayward rework DROWND’s ‘Sinner’

The Horrors‘ Faris Badwan and Josh Hayward have shared their rework of DROWND‘s ‘Sinner’. Check it out on NME first below.

Musician and visual artist DROWND has announced his debut album ‘(An)Aesthetic’, out later this year on Armalyte Records.

A record of what DROWND describes as “UnPOPular / Undustrial music”, the first taster comes with the menacing launch single ‘Sinner’, and today (August 20) a complete rework of the track by The Horrors’ Badwan and Hayward called ‘World Full Of Laughter’ (Badwan/Third).

“When I asked Josh to rework Sinner with me, he agreed on the condition we could turn it into a Jungle track – although in the end it sounded more like Concrete Jungle,” said Badwan. “I was kind of envious of the bassline so we just decided to write a new song on top of it. The lyrics are an ode to suffering and given the fact we recorded it at deafening volume in my front room I’m sure my neighbours relate.”
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The single will also feature remixes by Kanga, Jagz Kooner and Ruinizer.

‘Sinner’ comes with a dark and striking visual that was created in collaboration with SORT ZINE – a multidisciplinary studio offering extreme experiences in film, print, online and IRL, born out of London’s queer club community.

The video uses choreographed, synchronised dance sequences created by renowned choreographer Simon Donnellon, known for his work with Griff, Bree Runway, London Grammar and RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The team said that the video “showcases human lust and sin and the dark psyche of human behaviour and the battle between two contrasting things – love and lust, good and bad, commercial and the underground, and the ugliness of dark thought’s contrasted with the beauty of movement from the dancers.”

Stylist Matt King – known for his work with Nadia Lee, Brooke Candy, Ashnikko and Anna Calvi – adds highly stylised imagery that leans towards fetish concepts. The video was also directed by Joseph Delaney, known for his acclaimed recent film for the Yohji Yamamoto archive and work with the likes of Ashnikko, Meave, Tom Odell, British Vogue and Nowness.

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DROWND will also headline London’s Electrowerkz on August 21 as part of industrial goth club night ‘Reptile Club’. The album will follow later in 2021.

More new music from The Horrors is also expected soon, following the release of the brutal 2021 EP ‘Lout‘. Bassist Rhys described it as “the nastiest music we’ve made since [2007 debut] ‘Strange House’” and “an intense barrage of industrial noise, a return to the spirit and attitude of our debut LP but blasted into the future”.






Badwan recently teamed up with John Coxon for the collaborative two-track 12″ single of ‘Boiling Point/Promise Land’, while Tom Furse released his latest solo album, ‘Ecstatic Meditations’.

The Horrors’ last album was 2017’s acclaimed ‘V‘.