Italian alt-rock act Codice EGO release their new EP which brings together their recent singles ‘Errors And Repairs’ and ‘Rainbow’s End’, and the brand new track, ‘Contriver’.
The EP was mixed by Hugo Nicolson (Bjork, Primal Scream, Radiohead) and it's evident from the jarring sounds of the title track that the shoe-gaze, 90s indie-rock vibe is where Codice EGO are laying down their roots. The EP is also the first release to feature live vocals from Giulia Oddi. It calls to mind Placebo, Garbage, and even 00's era Gary Numan in the way they combine vocals, melody, and electronica but also white noise style discordance.
The EP follows a narrative based around band member Dario Pelizzari’s journey through a mysterious illness that came during (but unrelated to) the COVID pandemic. The Consequence is an EP that feels like it's drawn us into some kind of apocalyptic, industrial purgatory. The album calls on us to find inner strength when confronting the unknown to escape that rut and evoke a change within. 'Contriver' continues this theme, but sends us into a spiral of madness and chaotic sounds to try and find our way through. Dario compares his situation at the time to “the character of a post-apocalyptic wanderer, traveling through a desolate wasteland in search of meaning in a world where everything has been lost”. In terms of composition, they have captured that wasteland and sense of interminable helplessness perfectly in the last track.
There's no happy ending on the EP, but the title gives up the hope we need on this atmospheric and gritty EP. The message is clear: you have to run through the rain to see the rainbow.