Vex Message have a message and they want us all to listen. And we should, because it sounds like they mean business. And they have the pedigree to deliver it.

It may be the band’s debut single, but this isn’t a band that doesn’t know what it’s doing. They have previous and they know how to write songs.

We were sold straight away when this one landed in our inbox.

Amidst the terra-byte tenements, Amongst the paranoia permanence, Under the google-eyed governance of the Data Regime Surveillance is rife. 25 million CCTV cameras track your every move. Both the state and private companies collect images of you and use facial recognition technology on a daily basis.

You cannot comprehend the levels to which you are being watched, recorded and monitored. And, to add to that, there is the internet; the most powerful tool ever invented, resting in the hands of the snoopers and salespeople of the online world.

Every one of us will feature in Bulk Personal Datasets which record who we are, where we go, who we know and what we do. Every aspect of our lives is being collected, monitored and used… by the Data Regime. But, you know that, right? Carry on clicking, happy shopper.

Soundtracking this paranoid dystopian vision are Vex Message. A new band created by Derek Meins, formerly of Eastern Lane (Rough Trade), The Famous Poet (1965 Records) and The Agitator. Also featuring multi- instrumentalists Mark Hope and Sam Kirkham.

Formed with the intention of creating music to question our modern day predicament with their blend of electronic synthesis and post-punk sensibilities.

Over the last year, the band have recorded their debut album which will be released in summer 2021. Recorded in various studios and remotely, the self produced recordings were then mixed by Jag Jago (The Maccabees, Jessie Ware and Florence and the Machine).

The varied soundscape of the record seeks to bridge the gap in the band’s influences between electronic experimentalists such as James Holden and Holly Herndon, with the raucous immediacy of the literary post-punk outfits like Wire and Talking Heads.

Although the band had performed only a handful of gigs before lockdown enveloped us all, notable shows include support slots with Fat White Family, Working Men’s Club and Manchester physc wizards Purple Heart Parade.

Data Regime is out now at all the usual places.

Sounding not unlike a punk band locked in a bunker with an analogue synthesiser and vocoder, Data Regime pulls no punches. The accompanying video, which contains ultrasound footage of Meins’ vocal chords howling through the song, adds a visual interpretation of their apocalyptic online vision.

What is your role? In the Data Regime.