Gut Health, Naarm/Melbourne’s electrifying dance-punk ensemble, is set to ignite stages across the East Coast this October with their highly anticipated Stiletto album tour. As they gear up for the release of their debut album on October 11th via Highly Contagious/AWAL, the band have also unveiled the video for their epic title track, “Stiletto”.
The nearly eight-minute masterpiece that captures Gut Health’s chaos-meets-melody ethos. “Stiletto” is a bold statement against the fabrications of contemporary Australia, and critiques the capitalist machine while calling for a greater focus on Indigenous imagery and voices. The track thrives on the band’s dynamic and improvisational performances and with its live energy at its core it the band explains,
““The recording took a lot of trial and error to feel realised in its recorded form as often these elements are more improvisational in their live form. We just kept layering more and more until the end of the song felt unrecognisable from where it began.”
The song’s nearly eight-minute journey is anchored by a coiling bassline that makes no effort to hide beneath the relentless drums. The rhythm allows for the tension to gradually build while the guitars, synths, and Yang Chen’s saxophone layer snake in and drive the track to a chaotic climax before collapsing into a haunting and droning synth outro.
The “Stiletto” video, directed by Renee Kyprotis, visually captures the tension between the natural and the man-made, with scenes filmed at Coburg Velodrome and Cool Studios on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Land. Renee crafts a visual narrative that mirrors the song’s evolving tone with the visuals darkening and descending into a liminal space as the track progresses.
As Gut Health prepares to take Stiletto on the road, fans can expect a visceral live experience that blurs the lines between chaos and melody, pushing the boundaries of dance-punk to new heights. Tickets for the tour are on sale now at guthealth.space.
GUT HEALTH – Stiletto album tour
Tickets on sale 8am AEST Monday September 2 from guthealth.space
Sat 19 Oct – The Tote – Naarm/Melbourne
Fri 25 Oct – The Lansdowne – Gadigal Land/Sydney
Sat 26 Oct – Black Bear Lodge – Meanjin/Brisbane
+ additional upcoming dates supporting Hiatus Kaiyote
Tue 17 Sept – The Forum – Naarm/Melbourne
Fri 20 Sept – The Enmore – Gadigal Land/Sydney
Photo by Celeste de Clario
