After a two-year absence from releasing, following on from LP White Knuckle Ride back in 2024, ‘Incubus’ is the newest single from London-based alt-rocker AKA Shades, who channels his nu-metal sound into a confrontational, full-throated single.
Hypnotic vocals meet roaring guitarwork and thumping basslines, with glorious production, intense chorus lines, and unfiltered artistry. AKA Shades explains that he’d “been going back and listening to a lot of alternative music from the late ’90s and early 2000s. “I’ve always been completely fascinated with Woodstock ’99, the music, the style, the energy of it all. I was always stuck somewhere between admiration and horror as I watched it all unravel into a riot.”
“That tension became the heart of this song,” Shades continues. “It started as an outlet for disillusionment, and that disillusionment quickly boiled into outrage as I wrote; you can literally hear it in the way that the track builds.”
AKA Shades has always been political, and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in this space, he’s used his identity, talent, and determination to create the space for inclusivity within the genre. “I was disgusted by so much of what I was seeing globally: human rights abuses, abuse of power, the rise of fascism, and realising just how much mainstream media manipulates and perpetuates it all,” Shades says. “‘Incubus’ is both a cry for help and a call to action.”
Having grown a dedicated base through stamping his authority on the London live scene, ‘Incubus’ is a must-listen. Stream below:
