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Vice Lord, Part Two: Scenes Vol. 1
Vice Lord, Part Two: Scenes Vol. 1 (stylized in lowercase letters) is the second EP (and eleventh release overall) by experimental project Safety Scissor Death Squad, self-released on 11 May 2018. Although Safety Scissor Death Squad had already become a band before the EP's release, founder Sydney Léonie Pritchard is the only performer on the EP, with the band dissolving not long afterwards. vice lord, part two: scenes vol. 1 was released in order to promote the project's upcoming album vice lord, part two, and was supported by two singles: "4" and "6.”

The album was released to little fanfare and some derision from Internet denizens for Pritchard's marketing strategies, but was met with praise from Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart and record label owners Nick Domer and Dustin J.S. Watson.

Background, writing and composition
Principal member Sydney Léonie Pritchard recorded many instrumentals during the sessions for their previous album Street Gang Imagery, and each instrumental not used on the album was originally intended for an accompanying EP. However, Pritchard then decided to expand the unused material into a full-length album, inspired by the process Radiohead utilized for their albums Kid A and Amnesiac. At the time, neither a concept nor a title had been established.

Soon, inspired by a platonic and sexual relationship they were in at the time(which also served as the subject of the Street Gang Imagery song "VICE LORD"), Pritchard decided to center the album around the relationship, its effects upon their life, the surrounding events, what they saw as the relationship's end, and how they dealt with such events. As a result, the album was titled vice lord, part two.

Release and promotion
Originally, the album was meant to be released as a single full-length, but due to writer's block, conflicts with Pritchard's academic career, and a desire to maintain audience interest, Pritchard decided to release the eleven-track album as two EPs. However, those same issues led Pritchard to shorten the length of both EPs to four tracks, with the full-length release still being eleven tracks.

To promote during the winter and spring, Pritchard shared snippets from all eleven tracks on their Twitter and Instagram to hint towards the album's at-the-time impending release, shopped a demo containing some of their older songs to many labels to little to no avail, and invited collaborators to work with them. At a certain point, during March-April 2018, a keyboardist/guitarist and a drummer joined, but ended up abandoning Pritchard. During the first week of May, Pritchard began teasing towards finally releasing the first EP.

Singles
"4," the first single from both scenes vol. 1 and the full-length vice lord, part two, was released April 21, 2018. The truncated version, which appeared on scenes vol.1, was released four days later.

"6," the second single, was released May 6, 2018.

Composition
The EP has a murky, lo-fi sound running throughout, inspired by hypnagogic pop, new wave, alternative R&B, hip hop, gothic rock, and drone. On the song "1," the presentation is minimal, consisting just of vocals and acoustic guitar; in contrast, lead single "4" is instrumentally dense and heavily new wave-inspired. The songs "3" and "6" are dominated by samples, with "6" consisting only of manipulated samples of Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou's song "Last Light," a slowed-down sample of the Wild Nothing song "Only Heather," and a slow, distorted drumbeat.

In the lyrics, Pritchard recalls feelings of regret, unrequited love, and self-hatred in the wake of the abortive relationship they were in during the autumn of 2017.

Track listing
All tracks written, composed, and produced by Sydney Léonie Pritchard, except "1," which is a cover of “SUMMER,” written and composed by Ciarán McDonald & performed by BROCKHAMPTON; and "3," which is composed by Sydney Léonie Pritchard and Daniel Lopatin.

Samples and interpolations
 * "3" contains samples of “Sweet Leaf,” written by Geezer Butler and composed by Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, and Bill Ward & performed by Black Sabbath; and “Hospital Escape/Access-A-Ride,” composed by Daniel Lopatin & performed by Oneohtrix Point Never.
 * "4" contains an interpolation of “Honestly?” written and composed by Mike Kinsella, Steve Holmes, and Steve Lamos & performed by American Football.
 * "6" contains samples of “Only Heather,” written and composed by Jack Tatum & performed by Wild Nothing, and of “First Light,” composed by Kurt Ballou and performed by Converge; also contains elements of “Deep,” written by James Massiah and Roy Nnawuchi, composed by Roy Nnawuchi and Alejandro Ghersi, & performed by Babyfather featuring Arca.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from Bandcamp.


 * Sydney Léonie Pritchard - vocals on all tracks except "6," acoustic guitar on "1," electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drum programming, and effects units on "4," programming on "6," CDJs on "3" and "6," writing, composition, production, engineer, mixing, mastering