Bill Leeb is the Vancouver-based musician and mastermind behind electro-industrial scene mainstays Front Line Assembly and ambient-pop duo Delerium, as well as a key member of recording projects that include Noise Unit, Intermix and Cyberaktif.
Leeb has today issued a brand new video for a song entitled ‘Muted Obsession’. Included on his debut solo album, ‘Model Kollapse’, which is out 13th September, the track is the second lifted from the record to feature Shannon Hemmett of ACTORS, who are also based in Leeb’s home city.
Leeb says of the track: “The perception between fantasy and reality. How far would you go in this virtual social world we have created? Are we truly all alone? Who wants to play?”
‘Model Kollapse’ marks the first solo venture by this sonic chameleon and creative trailblazer since the mid-80s days of Front Line Assembly, when Leeb began making recordings in his bedroom and released them on limited edition cassette format. Almost four decades on, this new album was recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles with assistance from production duo Dream Bullet and long-term recording cohort Rhys Fulber, plus regular mixing engineer Greg Reely.
Hard-edged yet melodic, danceable and very much song rather than soundscape-driven, ‘Model Kollapse’ carries traces of post-punk electronic dance music pioneers such as DAF, Front 242 and Skinny Puppy (of whom Leeb was an original member), as well as his own oeuvre. However, it also displays the influence that acts like these have had on latter day artists such as Gesaffelstein and ADULT., plus much of what has in recent years become known as darkwave.
The term Model Collapse refers to a phenomena in artificial intelligence where trained models, especially those relying on synthetic data or AI-generated data, eventually degrade over time. Leeb posits the notion that “as we forge forward on an unprecedented technological scale, it makes me wonder how much longer we can remain in control of various aspects of our lives. Automation has already taken over many industries. With technology running much of the world, will the entire planet eventually be vulnerable to a Model Kollapse? Chaos would surely ensue.”
Leeb also acknowledges the role that Metropolis Records has played in his recording career since the late 1990s, stating that the company “is one of the most important for alternative music on the planet. This album was made possible by my long-term friendship with label boss Dave Heckman, who continually supported my projects, allowing complete artistic freedom.” Heckman died in the summer of 2022.
MODEL KOLLAPSE
TRACKLISTING
1 Demons
2 Exotic Matter
3 Neuromotive
4 Folded Hands
5 Pinned Down
6 Terror Forms (feat. Shannon Hemmett of ACTORS)
7 Muted Obsession (feat. Shannon Hemmett of ACTORS)
8 Simulation
9 Infernum
10 Fusion
11 Erosion Through Time (feat. Mimi Page)