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Silicon Is Hanging On the ‘Cellphone’ on New Track

As part of the Mint Chicks with his brother Ruban, Kody Nielson spent the better part of the early aughts bearing the torch of off-kilter guitar pop that his native New Zealand has become known for since the late ’80s Flying Nun heyday. Since they parted ways in 2010, Ruban’s come to fame with the paisley pop project Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Kody’s mostly been working with the similarly psychy Opossum, but that latter bro has also launched another moniker Silicon, to resurrect the fractured headspace that fueled his Mint Chicks contributions.

But this is no high wire guitar project, and in fact on new single “Cellphone” there’s nary a recognizable guitar in sight. Instead he uses clipped synth lines and vocoder-drowned falsetto to conjure the teetering weirdness that he so often projects. The result is a mournful ballad underscored by answering machine messages, something an alternate universe Blondie probably wishes they’d thought of.

Nielson will release the Silicon debut, Personal Computer (album art up above), on August 28 on Weird World. Listen to “Cellphone” here.