Arms & Armour is Lauren Voss (vocals, guitar, synth) and John Panza (drum machines, samples, synth).
Beginning nearly a decade ago as a guitar and drums project, they have moved deeper into electronics in recent years, embracing technologies they originally found intimidating and even confounding. Never losing that analog component, though, they produce live shows built on guitar soundscape and, despite using drum machines, elements of improvisation, never losing the core songs that keep them grounded and the doomy tones that make them happy.
Their debut ‘IIII Years’ (2016) demonstrated an approach to songwriting based on previous projects they spent time in together. But it was their EP ‘AA6Y’ (2018) that first demonstrated electronic influences and minimalist production, traits that they then began to test in live settings. The newest EP ‘Into This Wide Unknown’ (2021) was recorded in 2019 with Martin Bisi (Swans, Sonic Youth, Violent Femmes). The four songs on ‘Into This Wide Unknown’ capture grittier sounds and darker textures than their previous work and a theme of motherhood wrought by the time between initial recording and the EP being completed.
