London-based trio Electron fuse elements of grunge, hard rock, metal and nu-metal in an intense but engaging sound that they describe as “vicious, ferocious and unapologetic.”
The band is formed of Jason Payne (vocals and guitar) and Joanna Hyde (bass) – who we featured in a previous NBOTW article on Jason Payne & The Black Leather Riders back in July 2021 – alongside drummer Nuno Bessa. The trio all grew up within a 30-minute radius of each other in Portugal but only met while at college in London. They were part of various projects for several years before deciding to create Electron in 2022.
And on the band’s formation, Jason told us: “This project tells the full story of everything we went through together over the past few years, and follows the direction of the course we always wanted to take. We’ve always hated bands and artists that pretend to be something they’re not, and we’re the exact opposite of that. Our music is real, and it showcases in a pure form, who we are and our personalities.
“Our sound is heavy and our music dares to provoke you and make you uncomfortable, in a good way. We love to make people think, and touch their hidden feelings. The EP we’re about to launch is the crème-de-la-crème of our vast catalogue. We live in a world where everyone’s losing the grip of reality, addicted to modern technologies, obsessed with ‘perfection,’ unable to accept who they truly are, and losing touch with real connections. We dare to defy you to take a good look in the mirror and see if you can truly see yourself… Will you like what you can’t see?”
The latest taste of this is Electron’s single Burning Inside, which was released in February. It opens up with light pulsing synths before exploding into a chunky nu-metal riff and driving drums, then guitar smashes and a riff support engaging vocals. The pace slows down with a whispered lyric setting up a big energetic chorus “You took my pride and made it my shame, And now there’s no one else left to blame, You stole a part of me and tied me these chains, I’m breaking further from your remains.”
The second chorus drops into a lingering riff with spoken vocals, which explode into screamed vocals and delicious chunky guitar chords. That sets up a cheeky wah-infused solo and a final blast of the chorus.
On the track, Jason told us: “We’re super proud of all the love that has been shared by our fans towards this release. This is a very personal song that talks about those days when you just wake up angry and want to break everything. Kinda like Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff or Linkin Park’s One Step Closer. It’s a track full of rage, super upbeat to get your pulses racing. When writing the lyrics to this one, I focused on the world that we live in – which, to me, is utterly disgusting and gets me super mad.” Check it out here:
Burning Inside follows on from Electron’s debut album Defiance, which was released last year. It includes engaging tracks like Burn Me Down, which you can check out in the video below, Forsaken and Throw Me Away.
The Electron sound has been inspired by the likes of Architects, Metallica and nu-metal bands, as well as drawing influence from genres like grunge, hard rock and industrial metal.
And on what influences them to write music, Jason explained: “It all depends on the mood we’re in. But it tends to be about our personal life, stuff that makes us angry, something we have read or seen. For example, we’re inspired by other art forms such as Dali’s Surrealism, Munch’s Expressionism, horror movies such as The Conjuring trilogy and Insidious; as well as the lines of thinking of old-school philosophers such as Nietzsche’s nihilism, absurdist Albert Camus, the pessimism of Schopenhauer, Carl Jung’s determinism, and Ernest Becker’s book The Denial Of Death.
There’s plenty more to come from Electron, starting with their new EP, The Unbound, which was worked on with legendary producer Romesh Dodangoda and will be released on 24 May. They’ll then be out on tour across the UK to promote the EP, starting in Portsmouth on 5 July.
You can follow Electron on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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