There are songs that strike you when you hear them; there are songs that crawl into your head like slow poison. People Eat People by Garry Pitcairn is squarely in the latter camp–a vicious, simmering anthem that sounds like a message sent by the doomsday, and it is hauntingly beautiful.
The product of the bleak solitude of an island in the Po Valley after the break-up of his band Anubi, Pitcairn has never stopped making music inspired by his barren landscape. This new song is in that tradition but ventures into darker areas, with the powerful rhythm section of Flavio Di Giuseppe and Gianluca Bonetti. Collectively, they have produced a sound that can be described as Mark Lanegan as he was filtered through Nick Cave through a Queens of the Stone Age filter–but with decidedly Italian end-of-the-world aesthetics.
The manufacturing has the burden of the journey that Pitcairn makes to escape the desert solitude to the bustling metropolis of Italy, escaping the unknown plagues and the destruction of society. It is audible in every dark lyrical moment and psych-blues riff. Since his collaboration with mythical producer Alain Johannes on The Gospel, Pitcairn has obviously learned lessons about atmosphere and space, and has made music to be listened to on headphones, whilst the world goes out to party.
The cinematic aspect of People Eat People makes it very interesting. It is not background music, this is survival music to a civilization that is devouring itself. The slow burn of the song is fitting to the prophetic sound of the song that creates a tension that is never resolved, leaving a listener with this uncomfortable feeling of knowing that the world could be on its last gasp. And as an opening song on his soon-to-be-released EP, People Eat People makes Pitcairn sound like a desert prophet to be listened to. It is music that you cannot neglect, music that gets under your skin and does not leave long after the final note has died.