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New Sounds: Cults break bread over ‘Offering’ in Allston

When New York City duo Cults step onstage Wednesday night (October 18) at Brighton Music Hall, their third full-length album Offering will have officially been circulating for 12 days, still shiny and new to every streaming service and turntable. After their four-year gap between albums, the group, consisting of core members Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion, has been ready to bust the hell out of the studio for what feels like ages.

“We’ve been grinding like crazy getting all the pieces together but we feel like the show is going to be awesome,” the band says. “We are in that phase where playing the songs with the band is breathing new life into every track. Our favorites have been changing every day.”

With support from Cullen Omori (ex-Smith Westerns) and Hideout, Cults bring their new album Offering to Allston, rolling in with their new indie-electro behemoth of album. Much like the crystalline cuts of the band’s past, the eleven tracks of the new record ring with clarity while cultivating some darker tones, although there’s no Jim Jones samples to be found here.

The (literally) banging music video for “double feature” offering “I Took Your Picture” and “With My Eyes Closed” (which conveniently combine to make a full sentence), the pair teamed up with Elliott Sellers, who’s directed music videos for acts like Bastille and Christina Perri. The band ended up tackling the entire opus in a single day — surprising, but less so when you realize that both band members once attended film school.

“We talked to a lot of directors about making a video for ‘I Took Your Picture’ and eventually connected the most with Elliott Sellers. He wanted to bring out the physical nature of the song with a ‘head banging’ video and we thought that was super bizarre and cool,” Cults explain. “He called us about two days before the shoot and said he’d changed his mind and wanted to shoot two videos in one day. We thought that was very ambitious and we were down.”

Hands in the air is the usual sign of approval and excitement — amongst concerts and cult meetings alike — but as of this week, similar and ceaseless hair-whipping might just be the next big thing.

Featured photo by Shawn Brackbill.