Die Mannequin‘s press materials describe Neon Zero as being EDM — as in, “Evil Dance Metal.” It’s out on October 28 through eOne Music Canada, but you can already stream the album in full now on Exclaim.ca.
The record was produced by Arion Anderson and Nathan Quinn and mixed by Gavin Brown (Metric, the Tragically Hip, Sarah Harmer) and Lenny DeRose (Metric, the Tragically Hip, the Philosopher Kings). The process took eight months, although most of it was done over eight days in Vancouver.
The result is an energetic, hard-hitting affair in which thumping electronic pop songs are juiced up with heavy guitar work. “I’m Just a Girl” and “Blood in Blood Out” are a little slower and moodier, but for the most part, these 11 tracks go for the gut.