A Need to Be Shot, the uncompromising power electronics project helmed by Alex Osman, announces the release of Anhedonia 95, a three-track EP that channels the aesthetic decay of repeatedly dubbed shock video compilations into a sonic exploration of psychological deterioration. Set for release on 12th June 2025, the EP represents Osman at his most claustrophobic and paranoid, drawing inspiration from the barely watchable quality of underground video tapes passed hand-to-hand until voices became muffled distortions of their original form.
Anhedonia 95 comprises three meticulously crafted tracks: ‘Licking’ (06:02), ‘You’ve Gone And Made Yourself Sick’ (04:46), and ‘Breathing Through Tape’ (04:58). Recorded between November 2024 and March 2025, the EP sees Osman handling all vocals, electronics, and sampling duties, maintaining the project’s singular vision whilst delving deeper into themes of isolation, claustrophobia, gaslighting, psychosis, perversion, and obscene phone calls. The deliberately degraded production aesthetic mirrors the visual decay of analogue horror, creating an unsettling audio-visual parallel that places listeners in the position of voyeuristic participants.
A Need to Be Shot has established itself as a notably uncompromising voice in contemporary power electronics, drawing comparisons to seminal acts such as Whitehouse, Wolf Eyes, and Brighter Death Now. However, Osman’s approach differs significantly from traditional noise orthodoxy through his preference for shorter track lengths—a conscious departure from the genre’s typical 6-11 minute compositions. In A Need To Be Shot interview with Discipline Mag last year, Osman explained his inspiration: “I was inspired by bands like Naked City, Fantomas, The Locust, and Spazz, who were notorious for their short track lengths, some songs even lasting less than a minute. I wanted to create these short bursts and moods.”
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The project emerged from Osman’s broader artistic practice, which encompasses literature, visual art, and a diverse musical background spanning shoegaze, post-rock, grindcore, and trip-hop. His move to Austin from Pennsylvania was partially motivated by admiration for Texas artists including The 13th Floor Elevators, Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard, and particularly Butthole Surfers, whom he describes as “everything I wanted a band to be, just pure strange chaos.”
However, Osman’s experience in Austin has proven more isolating than expected. “For all the tacky billboards and t-shirts exclaiming how weird it is, it’s oddly the most normal, and kinda boring place I’ve ever lived,” he revealed in our previous interview. This disconnection from his adopted city appears to have fed directly into Anhedonia 95‘s themes of alienation and psychological distress.
Osman’s multidisciplinary approach extends beyond music into literature, with his debut book Problem Child providing source material for A Need to Be Shot lyrics. His literary sensibilities, influenced by Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, inform the project’s narrative approach. “Many of my favourite musicians are also writers,” Osman explained. “I think of ‘Nick the Stripper’ by The Birthday Party, with Nick Cave describing the character and his actions, while the music and those horns almost provide a soundtrack to his reading. I’m kinda trying to do the same thing, find the intersection between literature, music, and visuals.”
The project’s name itself emerged from a dream sequence involving a morphing figure declaring: “I have needs of my own that you would never understand, like a need to be shot.” This subconscious origin reflects the psychological territories Anhedonia 95 explores, where internal decay manifests as external sonic distortion.
Anhedonia 95 showcases A Need to Be Shot at a creative peak, with its shorter compositions and narrative focus carrying—carrying death industrial and power electronics’ abrasive core while creating more digestible yet equally challenging structures. The EP’s themes of technological degradation and psychological surveillance resonate in the digital era, positioning analogue decay alongside hyperconnectivity. Osman’s interdisciplinary approach is evident as his literary background shapes these audio-narratives, with his 2024 book Scandals containing poems that became A Need to Be Shot lyrics, demonstrating how the project operates across multiple artistic platforms simultaneously.
Anhedonia 95 is available from 12th June 2025. Follow A Need to Be Shot on Instagram (@magkneesiumm) for updates and performance announcements. Purchase the EP through the project’s official channels, and explore Osman’s literary work, including Scandals, for deeper insight into the psychological territories mapped by this multidisciplinary artistic vision.
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