Venus Furs is the moniker of Montreal’s Paul Kasner, a multi-instrumentalist, writer, and producer. In preceding years the act has taken many forms, supporting the likes of The Horrors and The Twilight Sad as he worked on refining and determining exactly what Venus Furs was meant to be. Now, Kasner is on the verge of releasing Venus Furs, a rigorously crafted set of songs that voyage through sonic and mental terrain.

Kasner’s shoegaze influences can be heard on new single “Paranoia,” offering textured layers and a melodic bass line. The visual richness of Kasner’s lyrics also applies to the way he describes unhealthy mental states, something he has both experienced personally and witnessed in others, and he manages to capture these indefinable feelings with precisely selected imagery. He describes places where “lethargic discontent swells boundless through the room”, he illustrates depression as “colour fading to dust”, and psychic obstacles manifest as trip wires and shards of glass on the floor.