ten56. share powerful new music video for ‘IO’

Following the release of their critically acclaimed new album “IO” and a hugely successful headline run across the UK and Europe, French bruisers ten56. have shared an incredibly moving new music video for the album’s title track. It’s the final song of the record, bookending their most devastating release yet by shining a bright light on the raw vulnerability at its core.

‘IO‘ is stylistically different from the rest of the record, and intentionally so. Lo-fi beats, reverb-drenched guitars and fluttering electronic textures soundtrack an exploration of vocalist Aaron Matts’ experiences with substance abuse; a subject he found himself confronting during the recording process that spilled out into the album’s content. The song is intended to be both a statement and the closing of a chapter in Matts’ life which makes the music video, filmed during his rehab process, even more powerful. He recently did an incredible interview with Kerrang! about how making this album aided his recovery, which can be read in full here.

Speaking on the single and video, Matts shares:
“This track came at a pivotal time in my life, both literally and figuratively. Looking back at the lyrical content that I’ve put out, I felt that I needed to directly address the why’s and how’s as to why I tend to fall into the same lyrical stupor from track to track. At least that’s how I felt about it. 

“This song and its music video also came at a turning point in my life. Between two tours I was admitted to an addiction treatment centre in order to get over a long standing opioid and Benzodiazepine addiction. We were able to film the images during my stay at the rehabilitation clinic, and while on paper this sounds cool; it was a very vulnerable and uncomfortable period for me. 

“I hope this track and it’s music video can eventually help anyone else experiencing something similar in their lives. I’m not perfect, but I’m doing my best and I have my boys by my side. Love yourselves.”

Stream and purchase the new album here
Watch the music video for ‘IO‘ here

Visceral and unrelenting, yet richly layered and skillfully crafted, “IO” hides grinding groove and gnarled melodies in every one of its shadowy, labyrinthine corners, which descend deeper and deeper into a story of deteriorating mental health and crumbling attachment to society and self. “I’m falling off the edge into the pitch black nether,” a tormented Matts screams on ‘Snapped Neck‘. “IO” digs in its claws and pulls you down into the abyss with him.

“The reason why I started ten56. was to talk about these things that I have on my mind, and unburden myself of them,” nods Matts. “For a long time in my career I wasn’t able to sing about the way I was actually feeling. I don’t know how to write positive lyrics. I have to be going through something to really be inspired. I’ve always liked extremely heavy music, and this was my way of getting these thoughts off my mind.”

Describing the album as “a journey that starts from being taken advantage of by certain people, through feelings of revenge and questions of self doubt, before closing with self-reflection and revelation,” “IO” is an album in which Matts invites listeners to explore the darkest corners of his mind. Nightmares await at every turn, and yet there are fractured moments of humanity and vulnerability, too.