Ecca Vandal Unfollows 15-Second Culture on New Album
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- Ecca Vandal released her second album Looking For People to Unfollow on 22 May, the end of a four-year process during which she went "completely offline" after pressure to "pick a lane."
- Vandal wrote and recorded the album with partner and bassist Richie Buxton, first in a Melbourne apartment where neighbours knocked on the door over her heavy vocal tracking, then in a garage at his parents' house with no internet connection.
- The album fuses rock and beat-driven material and channels Vandal's experience as a woman of colour alongside the murder of George Floyd, framed as a fight against "the faux-sincerity of the online world" and the obsession with "15-second snippets."
- Fred Durst DM'd Vandal and invited her on a 2025 Limp Bizkit tour — the decision that pulled her out of Australia — and she made her Coachella debut in April with public backing from Shirley Manson, SZA, Travis Barker and Hayley Williams.
- Vandal opened for Interpol and Deftones at arena shows less than 24 hours after a surprise live set at a Newtown dive-bar listening party in Sydney.
- Born in South Africa to parents who fled the Sri Lankan civil war, Vandal weaves her heritage into her music — including a saree worn in front of Marshall stacks in the Bleed But Never Die video.
Why it matters: After four years largely off the grid, Ecca Vandal has converted underground credibility and endorsements from Fred Durst, SZA, Travis Barker and Hayley Williams into a Coachella slot and arena supports for Interpol and Deftones. The album positions her as a rare crossover artist championed by both nu-metal and indie tastemakers, betting on long-form, genre-fluid music in a 15-second attention economy.
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