Underlying Forces: SEINT Explores What Comes After The Apocalypse

SEINT is a dreamy electronic act that announced itself as “post-apocalyptic pop” in 2015, with the release ‘Post Pop/The Last Day with Us.’ The cover of the album shows a nuclear explosion with two figures kissing, enjoying the last moments of their existence in a destroyed world.

Joseph Cosmo Muscat, an English-Icelandic, Reykjavík-based singer, songwriter and producer, is the mastermind behind project. “SEINT is now officially a band,” he says. “It used to be a solo effort. Dagný Silva, has been with me the whole time I’ve been performing live. Then I met Daniel Oddsson, who is our drummer now, he’s brilliant human being and brilliant drummer.”

More raw

The idea of post-apocalyptic music came from Joseph’s past in the metal, hard-core and punk scenes. “When I started producing electronic music, I actually started making sterile cold pop music,” he explains. “I’ve been influenced by my experiences riffing out and head banging. The material in my first album was in the direction of Nine Inch Nails—very industrial, cold and dirty. It’s much more raw than the next album.”

Joseph is also a big fan of science fiction, and apocalyptic movies and television shows. “That whole world interests me,” he says. “Mad Max: The Road Warrior is probably my favourite movie. The apocalyptic music concept is an accumulation of those things; where I came from musically and what I liked in television.”

Sharing the love

SEINT’s newer material has a different feel. “It’s more optimistic,” says Joseph. “I think that’s the word. At some point I just stopped focusing on problems and focused on healing instead. It spread and the music was contaminated by that energy. When I started feeling better mentally and physically the new material started to form. I started creating this album when my life long friend passed away. We used to do a lot of music together and I was making the album at the time of his death. That transition happened right there.”

Joseph was devastated, but became evermore grateful for the people in his life. “Our next album is dedicated to that friend of mine Ingólfur Bjarni,” he says. “In my former work I shared my darkest times, when I feel as good as I do now I just want to share the love.”

Human consciousness

And so, SEINT has taken a dark experience, and turned it into something healing. Aside from the music, his visuals seem to be a very important part of experiencing the ideas he’s expressing.

“At some point I stopped focusing on problems and focused on healing instead… the music was contaminated by that energy.”

“I have a whole concept behind the artwork of the album that I haven’t released yet,” he says. “I don’t want to give it all away, but it’s about the human consciousness. It has a lot to do with that eye that people keep seeing in my work. You can see into a person’s soul just by looking into their eyes—it says everything.”

“My father is very heavy into conspiracy theories, as am I,” he finishes. “He’s an old punk rocker from the 70’s. He said to me once, ‘I really like your music but why do you have to dress up like one of these illuminati priests?’ Because I was wearing a cape and necklace. When he said that I thought well ‘Hey why not? That’s what the music is about—underlying forces.’”

‘The World is not Enough’ comes out on Spotify in June, and on vinyl later in 2018. follow SEINT on Facebook here.