“A band at the top of their game, unphased by fusing ideas that wouldn't otherwise give each other a second glance” – This is Fake DIY

Set somewhere between the realms of The Games Master and our dearly deceased Top of the Pops, Department M showcase their new single ‘The Second Prize’.

Having recently revealed the track's Aa-side 'Absentia', Department M now share the a-side from their new 7" single, released on June 24th through Too Pure Singles Club.

'The Second Prize' sees the Leeds group at their cleanest and meanest yet. Funk bass and techno flourishes adorn a skewed but direct vision of hard modern pop music. The track's aggression is contained but palpable, every warped sound knows its place.

Directed by the group's drummer Tommy Davidson, the video is a spectre of not-so-long-forgotten 80’s technology & aesthetics, ridden with smashed up cassettes & analogue TVs. The camera focuses on disjointed, almost robotic movements that seem to somehow run so smoothly when accompanied by the band’s accomplished sound and Department M mastermind Owen Brinley’s distinctive bitter-sweet vocals.

“We needed a location to shoot our first music video and winded up trespassing in a dark church basement for four days whilst the congregation worshipped above" explains Brinley. "It went without hitch until the raging church owner caught us about to dismantle a wall of 25 TVs and threatened to call the police.”

Following on from debut 'I'll Fax You An Apology', released through Leeds label Hide & Seek records earlier in the year, this new release consolidates the abrasive beauty exhibited and shifts Department M's sound forward with brutalist pop economy.

Now established as a hypnotic and pummeling live act, the last six months have seen Department M tour the UK with Menace Beach as well as taking in early summer festivals Live at Leeds and YO1. This summer they'll continue on the road with dates in support of this Too Pure Singles Club release and with festival slots at Beacons and Tramlines.

See Department M live:

10th July London Hoxton Bar and Kitchen

21st July Tramlines Festival, Sheffield

18th August Beacons Festival, Skipton.