Los Angeles-based duo Carrousel — Joel Piedt and Sharon Piedt — have developed a reputation for crafting a unique sound that draws from a broad and eclectic array of genres and styles including blues, psych rock, shoegaze and New Wave, centered around pop melodies. 2020 will be a busy year for the duo: they released the I Wasn’t Well EP last month, which will be promptly followed by the forthcoming full-length album Magnificent Desolation during the Spring.
I Wasn’t Well EP‘s lead single, the brooding “Pyschobabble Drama” features rousingly anthemic hooks, shimmering synth arpeggios, industrial clang and clatter, stuttering and Piedt’s plaintive vocals — and while seemingly recalling Primal Scream, Portishead, Garbage, The xx and others, the track is largely inspired by Joel’s Piedt’s recurring nightmares. And as a result, the song possesses a feverish and anxious quality, as though its narrator has just awoken from a sweat-inducing and horrifying dream.
Directed by Dylan Plyfair, the recently released video is split between old-timey horror film footage and performance video of Joel Piedt and Sharon Piedt performing the song with their backing band, which emphasizes the song’s surreal and nightmarish air. “The idea was to integrate footage from Dracula with us as we were playing,” Joel Piedt explains in press notes, “on the walls, on our instruments and faces, so that we’re totally immersed in it.”
