Chinese post-punks, Fazi, have shared the news that they will be re-issuing their 2022 opus, Folding Story, for the European market. First released by pioneering Chinese record label Space Circle, the 10-track collection is scheduled for re-release in Europe via Pelagic Records, on January 26th. Head into the article below to find out more.
The philosophical and existential themes at the heart of ‘Folding Story’ may well come as a surprise to fair-weather fans and cynics turned off by Fazi’s newfound commercial fame, but the sheer power, raw emotion and creative innovation within this latest album quickly silence any questions of the band’s authenticity and integrity. Although birth, life and death will always be heavy topics to take on, it is the universality behind them that inspired Fazi to write an album that is, in one way or another, accessible to everyone.
Folding Story tracklisting:
01 Invisible Water
02 Eye In The Sky
03 Beautiful Teeth
04 Never Say Forever
05 Silence
06 Body / Mind / Soul
07 Vigil
08 Delingha
09 Died in Wind
10 Way To Atman
More from Fazi:
Fazi are a post-punk band based in the ancient Chinese city of Xi’an. However, there is much more to their story than meets the eye. With five immersive full-length records and a brief stint on peak-time commercial TV already establishing the four-piece at the forefront of a truly pioneering wave of alternative music in China, the European re-release of their latest offering, Folding Story, represents an incredible new beginning for a band who have already spent years honing their craft – transforming timeless traditions of love, life and death into a perpetual dance of frenetic, krautrock energy and sprawling, shoegaze panoramas.
Fittingly, Folding Story is itself a cyclic experience of rebirth, renewal and a return to origin. Album opener “Invisible Water” is a contemplative start as frontman Peng Liu’s yearning vocals reach out across synthesisers reminiscent of sonar and the hypnotic lapping of water on an unknown shore. Described by Peng as an “artistic conception of amniotic fluid in the mother’s body”, this motif returns at the end of the album’s final track, “Way to Atman,” this time as a gentle tide washing away the ash of a spent funeral pyre. Just as the album and its protagonist is born at the beginning and dies at the end, by deliberately opening and closing Folding Story with the sounds of water, Fazi invite listeners to flow through the record on a never ending loop, to listen to a story without pause, one that rises from a whisper to a roar only to subside as quickly as it arrived.
Having started out as a band called The Fuzz in 2010, the four-piece released their debut record Running Horse in 2013 before honing their Cold Wave-inspired post-punk sound and resurfacing as Fazi on 2018’s full length, Dead Sea. Finding themselves at the forefront of a thriving alternative music movement that was spreading across China, Fazi released the driving Invisible Water EP and announced their controversial decision to take part in the 2020 edition of hit TV show The Big Band, which saw the band square up against other rising rock acts to break into mainstream market success. Whilst risking being labelled sell-outs by long-time fans and musical contemporaries alike, Fazi are adamant that the show hasn’t changed them and that, in fact, they’re still relishing the opportunity to ruffle some feathers and shine a national spotlight on their ever-growing scene.
Line-up:
Peng Liu – Vocals
Cheng Ma – Guitar
Jiaxuan Li – Bass
Boyang Li – Drums
Follow Fazi:
https://www.facebook.com/weareFAZI
https://youtube.com/@faziofficial9643
https://www.instagram.com/fazi.cn/