If you are an avid reader of CVLT Nation, then you know that we are firm believers that music can be used as a weapon of social change. We are not alone in this belief – the band Humanities also share this stance. Their powerful new song “Drone War Data Nil” will appear on their upcoming split with Low Sun which comes out this Thursday. If I had to describe their sound I would ask you to imagine Rites of Spring coming at you with the socio-politics of Fugazi! I fucking dig this band, which is why we are streaming “Drone War Data Nil” below, and we want to salute Art of the Uncarved Block for releasing such a rad split!
“Drone War Data Nil” brings an ironic,yet humane dimension to the world of drone strikes. We asked ourselves about how to imagine the odd reality of weapons of war that intersect with video game logic. Where is the human dimension of these automated machines? Obviously it resides in those who are the objects of the strike, the human targets and collateral damage, but what of those anonymous figures on the other end? How do we begin to imagine them, to think the human on the other side of the screen? Perhaps, this song asks, a love letter is one way in — a love letter to an impossible addressee to expose the inhuman side of these “smart” weapons.
