premiere: dear denizen’s stunning “maquisard”

On the music and video for their new single, “Maquisard,” Montreal’s Dear Denizen crafts surreal visuals and jagged-edged indie rock into a powerful anthem they describe as a “humble and soft form of resistance.” Taken from Dear Denizen’s forthcoming EP, “Maquisard” derives its name from the French anti-fascist partisans who operated in the Alps during World War II to hide those at risk from the Nazis. The song connects the dots between the 20th century struggle against fascism, to the conflicts in the Congo, to the global rise of authoritarianism, charting the tiny acts of humanity that stand in opposition to global cruelty.

Bandleader Chris Ngabonziza explains to AFROPUNK:

“Just when you think we have come a long way as humans, it’s pretty scary and quite disheartening to see this almost global tendency to go back to tribalism, nationalism and fascism. So I shot this video in Goma (Democratic Republic of R Congo) and at the beach in Gisenyi (Rwanda), which is kind of the eye-the-storm in the ever-lasting DR Congo war, where I was born and raised.”