Wax Chattels – “Cede” [Video]

New Zealand’s Wax Chattels share their third single “Cede” off their cathartic sophomore album, Clot, which came out September 25 via Captured Tracks and Flying Nun. The vitriolic choruses of “Cede” are in Amanda Cheng’s (bass/vocals) native language — Taiwanese Hokkien — and are an indignant confrontation about Cross-Strait relations and self-determination. This track follows their singles “No Ties,” a melodic single about the experience of being a first generation immigrant that BrooklynVegan called “ferocious” and “Efficiency” that We All Want Someone To Shout For called “hard-hitting slice of industrial hard rock.”

Amanda Cheng on “Cede” – “I am angry. Saying ‘you don’t know who I am’ in Taiwanese Hokkien is to say ‘you don’t get to tell me who I am.’ You don’t just scream like this to put on an album — you scream like this because it’s the only thing you can do. This song is an affront to the near-silent cultural genocide that’s taking place — the censorship, the militant threats — and the international community’s insistence on practicing diplomacy with economics at the front of mind. If it takes a loud song that’s half in an unfamiliar language for people to ask, “what’s that about?”, then so be it.

Amanda Cheng, who directed the video, says, “I set out to make a video that was unenjoyable to watch; unhinging a domestic, ‘safe’ setting. To contrast the blunt lyrics, the thematic statements in the video are more subtle — there’s a geopolitical narrative there, but you’ll miss it.”

You can order Wax Chattels new album Clot HERE.