Premiere: Beauty in the Breakdown rise like a ‘Firebird’

We’ve been waiting all year for a club banger as scorching as this. Don’t question it, just go with it. Beauty in the Breakdown–an EDM outfit made up of vocalist/percussionist Chastity Ashley, guitarist Ian Alexander, bass player Alexandria Reyes and keyboardist Tim “Sonix” Rouse–alight on freshly-cut trap beat-downs and melodic up-ticks with “Firebird,” premiering today. They first sparked a revolution with their debut EP, 2015’s pop-heavy Neon, complete with hand-claps, feverish mayhem and disregard for the rules. Now, they bounce back with a provocative, envelope-pushing piece of dance-floor euphoria, ripe for the long-weekend, late-night, sun-rise-saluting excursions.

“If I had one wish, I don’t think I’d change a thing,” Ashley murmurs into a cloud of warm, enveloping percussive taps and billowing synths. “No, I wouldn’t question the who I was meant to be.” Later, she chants, “All this time, my heart is beating fast, just don’t know if it’s not gonna last. Well, I’m just throwing stones at the glass. And if we crash, we’ll rise like a firebird.”

“Firebird,” presumably, samples their forthcoming new project. Details to be revealed.

“From the minute we’re born sound presents itself and immediately it becomes one with us. It envelops our very essence and sets us on our journey ahead. We grow and take on shapes, colors and surroundings all of which are built through vibration of sound whether you can see with your eyes or feel with your body,” the group write., peeling back the layers of what comprises their unshakable, resilient core. “This is all music. It sets the stage for who we become and what we celebrate. It creates our happiness our sorrows our wonders and contentment. It’s the fabric of who we are.”

They add, “Every person lives their own song each and every day. While doing so we continue to learn, fall, see, hurt, lose, recover, love, hate, rise and inevitably build our own soundtrack to every step that we take.”

Ashley’s blustering skill set on the drums, ranging from a traditional kit to the djembe (an African drum), landed her a stint on tour with Duran Duran. She jet-setted all over the world, including to Brazil.  “I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Chastity, her boundless energy added an exciting and vibrant element to our shows and her expert percussion playing helped keep our audiences on their feet night after night,” John Taylor once praised of her. “It’s so great to see her coming into her own as an artist and sharing her music with the world.” Ashley has also collaborated with a wide swath of talent, from Mark Ronson and Alice in Chains to Ben Harper and Perry Ferrell.

The music video, destined to set the world on fire, arrives soon.

Listen to “Firebird” below:

Follow Beauty in the Breakdown on their socials: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website