With ties to techno and a penchant for earth-rumbling post-punk — along with a staunch willingness to stop rape culture, privilege and patriarchy in its tracks — there’s no denying that Vancouver trio lié [pronounced “lee-ey” and lower-case preferred] are an integral force in the global underground. Since forming in 2013, they’ve only grown louder, brasher and more intense as they’ve developed their sound across numerous releases and a near endless stream of international DIY tours. That momentum has culminated in You Want It Real, an eight-song LP to be released on February 28, 2020 via Mint Records.

'You Want It Real', the band’s fourth album, expands on previous themes with an assured intensity and plenty of world-weary lyrics. Sonically, lié’s recordings have unlocked the full-bore wall of sound that’s present in their live shows. That’s due in part to the work of legendary punk producer Jesse Gander (White Lung, Japandroids), who has helped unlock a further disharmony of melody and feedback in the band’s relentless aggression.

Musically, the sheer thrill of the album is the trio’s ability to build enormous and complex compositions within the constraints of a traditional punk structure. The members of lié are no strangers to finding the beauty within rigidity, as Luk and West moonlight in the respective acid/rave/techno projects Minimal Violence and Sigsaly. While that influence is not immediately obvious in lié, the ability to think outside the box has proven contagious. “It makes you think outside of the typical rock song structure” drummer Kati J says regarding the ways electronic music has inspired the band.

Armed with aesthetic assuredness, relentless musicianship and lyrics that are at once bleak and empowering, there are few bands on earth quite like lié. And with You Want It Real, they’ve made their most challenging and cohesive statement to date.

LPs limited to 300 copies on yellow vinyl