The Residents

Intruders CheRRy Red Enigmatic collective examine a world of imaginary beings.

If any group is fully equipped to deliver a concept album about “alternate [sic] beings stalking the corners of our consciousness”, it’s The Residents. Wilfully anonymous since their inception, they have been a persistent, eerie uncanny presence on the periphery of rock since the mid-70s, constantly raising the question: who or what are they?

Assisted by producer Eric Drew Feldman and others, Intruders reminds of their 1979 album Eskimo, in that it’s accompanied by texts which help fill in the spectral, luring ambience of each track, whose atmospheres range seamlessly from electronic, southern gothic to Duane Eddy-isms to indistinct instrumental areas in between. The Scarecrow tells the story of a man on the freeway who is troubled by a robed scarecrow as he listens to the recently deceased James Brown; The Other tells of a widower haunted by his dead wife.

An album that is beautifully packaged, beautifully conceived – top-drawer Residents.