“Everybody wants to leave something behind them, some impression, some mark upon the world. And then you think, you’ve left a mark on the world if you just get through it and a few people remember your name. Then you’ve left a mark. You don’t have to bend the world. I think it’s better just to enjoy it. Pay your dues and enjoy it.” – Dorian Corey
This quote from Dorian Corey, taken from the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, rings out through the opening of new Wings Of Desire single Runnin’. It sets the tone for a single that unfurls to reveal a band quietly and confidently demonstrating themselves as masters of the majestic, euphoric slow-burn.
Drawing inspiration from psychological revolution, visual arts, and 20th century counterculture, the result is a Factory-era creative outlet for a disenfranchised generation. Wings Of Desire is simply a mirror to the planetary shift we are all experiencing. Taking influence from readings such as Noam Chomsky’s work “Manufacturing Consent” – which proposed that media had effectively become system-supportive propaganda – or the lectures of writer and philosopher Alan Watts – who explored the nature of perception, ignorance, and identity, it is the follow-up to the band’s debut single 001, and is a propulsive, widescreen experience set to flickering images of our world through the ages.
The band comments: “Running endlessly in circles eternally longing for something, of which we are not sure. In a culture designed to distract us from ourselves, and one that empowers narcissistic idealization. Maybe its time to get off the wheel and see what’s outside?”
Sometimes, the most important question for any artist to ask, is “Why?”. Why is this happening. Why are we putting up with it. Why do we fall for it again and again. For London-based duo Wings Of Desire the art in questioning their surroundings in their natural pace – for them, that is the easy part. What they aim to stir with their music is the strength to inspire considered conversation, and light a fire to rouse a socially conscious underground that wills an end to the rigid systems that bind many, and benefit very few. They see new ways to move through life, new thought processes, ways that embrace art and teachings. Their music is a coded manifesto that says “it doesn’t have to be this way.”
