Brisbane boundary-pushers, Planisphere are back with more maddening modern alt-rock/electronica with the cyberpunk radness that is their latest offering, ‘White Rabbit’, along with a just as mental music video.

Planisphere’s ethos has always been to push the constraints of their creativity, drawing inspiration from all sources and blending genres to create their heavy sound.

The result is a groove-laden riff fest reminiscent of something off the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack. Brooding instrumentals make way for deep house-esque verses, moving into the most memorable hook of 2023 before dropping into a fuzzed out dance-punk rave.

Glitchy, and pulsing, ‘White Rabbit’ hacks into the mainframe and digs up sawtoothed dance-punk that creeps under the skin, conjuring convulsions and sweaty palms. Planisphere don’t present you with a choice with ‘White Rabbit’ - it’s Red Pill all the way into the world of cyberpunk rave madness, and there’s no turning back.

This release also marks a proud milestone for the band, as contrary to prior material, the band took a completely DIY approach to the creation of this latest cut, producing, recording and mixing it themselves, and only enlisting the help of Ross Caygill (Melbourne) for the master.

“Finally taking the plunge to do everything in house was a massive learning experience, but allowed us to get everything sitting exactly how we wanted it, on our own time. Brock Weston (Bugs) our previous mixer, would never have let me sit there in his studio for 4 hours fiddling with the verse bass synth, so we felt like this was the track to take the leap on” Lorcan Coates, Planisphere

The inspiration for the track came from classic sci fi action film ‘The Matrix’.

“I was rewatching the first Matrix movie on my own, doing my homework before watching the new one ‘Revelations’, and in the scene where Neo meets Trinity for the first time in the club I was just so in awe of the vibe I got really inspired and picked up my guitar, got a drum loop going, and wrote the main White Rabbit riff within 5 minutes. Then I wrote down Trinity’s dialogue in that scene, and picked the best lines to make up the lyrics for the first verse.” Lorcan Coates, Planisphere

Taking the inspiration a step further, the band have teamed up with Brisbane videographer Millicent Norman to create a surreal music video dripping with Matrix references to bring the song’s vision to life.

“The idea for the music video was one that was laying dormant ever since I’d seen the MV for the Flume/Chet Faker collab ‘Drop the Game’. It’s literally just this dancer just solo freestyling in an industrial street at nighttime, gradually stepping it up as the song progresses. We wanted to bring a similar approach to our video, with someone in a Neo type role going through some interrogation/simulation chaos and gradually losing it. We brought the idea to Milli for her to work her magic, and I had an old school friend Sam Evans who is now a professional dancer so I hit him up, and the rest is history!” Lorcan Coates, Planisphere

As the first taste of the band’s new direction, ‘White Rabbit’ is ample sign that the band has found a comfortable space creating within the myriad of genres of music that inspire them, and a clear tight band dynamic that is sure to translate well to the live stage, and continue to serve them and their listeners well on future releases.

To celebrate the release, Planisphere will be putting on a hometown headliner at King Lear’s Throne in Brisbane on 25/08/2023, with support from psych rockers Bonsai Bay and prog masterminds Magnesia.

‘White Rabbit’ is out now on all streaming platforms, as well as the accompanying music video.