Activity: Text the Dead – “exploring the outer limits”

Here at Sun 13 we don’t need an excuse to write about Activity. In the swathe of good music that was released during the COVID pandemic in 2020, the New York/Philadelphia collective were the band who stole out hearts, it has to be said.

While there doesn’t appear to be any immediate plans to release the follow-up to their downright brilliant debut, Unmask Whoever, in 2021 Activity have been drip feeding us with singles.

The first came in the way of the shadowy psych post-punk wanderings of White Phosphorus, and months later the band returns with the hauntingly titled Text the Dead.

Activity have always stalked through the creepy, unlit hallways of post-punk and continuing to explore that dark underbelly, they produce the elusive dread with Text the Dead.

On Text the Dead, Activity weave gorgeous, atmospheric melodies through pulsating rhythms that seep with beautiful, rich drones. It’s Activity making music that calmly washes over you.

It’s a brooding cut and an extension of the material from Unmask Whoever, which is exactly what you would except from a band that are hell-bent on exploring the outer limits in a bid to move their artistic ideology forward.

With Text the Dead, Activity do just that and more.

Text the Dead is out now via Western Vinyl. Purchase from Bandcamp.