Ahead of the much-anticipated release of his new album Overflow this Friday, Rival Consoles shares a highly engaging 10-minute visual for Monster — directed by Dan Medhurst who brings a new incarnation to Alexander Whitley's dance production.

Overflow delves into understanding the explosion of information we’ve experienced since the introduction of the internet, the analytical systems we’ve come to know as 'big data' and the social platforms that have emerged from it. Hyper-stimulated by algorithmically personalised streams of media and increasingly dependent on 'likes' as a measure of self-worth, emotions have replaced things as the driving force of consumption, fracturing experience into 'jittery, schizoid intervals' (Radical Technologies by Adam Greenfield). Alexander Whitley's dance production seeks to connect with the tensions and strangeness of life in this qualitatively new paradigm of media and communication.

"I’m very excited to share the video to Monster, which adds a completely new dimension to this project as it morphs and bends with both music and dance to create an otherworldly space the listener/viewer can escape to and explore," says Ryan Lee West.

A central relationship in the piece exists between the performers and a kinetic light sculpture created by Amsterdam based duo Children of the Light. A five-metre long LED bar moves around the stage, creating distinct spaces, energies and environments in which the six performers are situated, which functions to produce elements of spectacle, imagery and illusion and viscerally embodies the alluring tendency of technology.

"It was fantastic to have the opportunity to collaborate with Rival Consoles and Erased Tapes again on such an interesting and original project. For me, it was a very different approach to film making from the way I’ve worked in the past and it was a great chance to explore new creative ways to convey the original feeling of the piece. There are many layers to this project, with it originally being born out of Alex Whitley’s amazing dance production, the very striking light object by Children of the Light, and of course Ryan’s incredibly dark and emotive score.

The challenge was to bring a new incarnation to the project in this film, but to still convey the original message of the performance whilst creating something new, different and engaging. I worked with the super team of editor Manuel Molla and VFX producer Benny Aves to realise a new vision for it. It’s definitely the most intense and dark project I’ve worked on in some time. But it was really quite cathartic actually, having spent some time during the pandemic reflecting on how damaging social media and big data can be to us and society, and also personally choosing to limit the amount of time I engage with it," adds video director Dan Medhurst.

Overflow was premiered by the Alexander Whitley Dance Company in May 2021 at the Sadler’s Wells in London and is scheduled to tour through theatres in Europe in spring 2022. The score will be released by Erased Tapes on limited edition double vinyl and CD as well as digital formats on December 3.

· watch the video for Monster
· pre-order Overflow on 2LP · CD · DL