Tag: Gengahr Fill My Gums With Blood

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Gengahr’s Bittersweet “Icarus”

Deriving their name from Gengar, one of the original Pokemon, the acclaimed London-based indie act Gengahr — Felix Bushe, John Victor, Hugh Schulte and Danny Ward — can trace their origins to when its members met at the Stoke Newington School. Their debut single “Fill My Gums With Blood” caught the attention of BBC Radio 1‘s Huw Stephens — and building upon a rapidly growing profile, the band wound up playing at the BBC Introducing Stage at 2014’s Glastonbury Festival.

Since then the band has released two critically applauded albums — 2015’s debut effort A Dream Outside and 2018’s Where Wildness Grows. Sanctuary, Gengahr’s highly-anticipated Jack Steadman-produced third album is slated for a Friday release through Liberator Music. Reportedly, the album finds the band ambitiously pushing their sound in a decidedly pop leaning director, while attempting to recapture the magic and vibe that the quartet felt while writing and recording their full-length debut. Interestingly, the album, which is largely influenced by Homer’s Odyssey, also reportedly finds the band’s primary songwriter Felix Bushe tapping into personal pain — but while throwing punches and fighting. 

Late last year, I wrote about the slinky and shimmering single “Heavenly Maybe.” Featuring  a funky, disco-like groove, “Heavenly Maybe” was imbued with a world weary ennui centered around the experience of partying as a way to distract oneself from their serious, real-life problems. “Icarus” Sanctuary’s third and latest single is a wistful, M83-like song, centered around a sinuous and propulsive bass line, a motorik-like groove, four-on-the-floor-like drumming and Bushe’s plaintive vocals. And while featuring some enormous, soaring hooks, the track is imbued with the awareness of the passing of time; that adulthood ain’t easy: it’s full of dashed dreams, compromises, disappointment and the awareness that nothing in this world works the way it should. 

““Icarus” is a song about growing up and coming to terms with the expectations of our youth. As a child we believe anything is possible but as we get older there is a crushing realisation as we begin to understand that the journey of life has its own uncontrollable trajectory.” the band explains in press notes. 

Directed by the band’s long-time visual collaborator Dave East, the recently released lyric video for “Icarus” was shot in Cape Town, South Africa and depicts a car driving down a mountain road at night, seemingly in search of another hill, another mountain to climb, another bit of road sliding by. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: London’s Genghar Releases a Dance Floor Friendly Single

Deriving their name from Gengar, one of the original Pokemon, the acclaimed London-based Gengahr, comprised of Felix Bushe, John Victor, Hugh Schulte and Danny Ward can trace their origins to when its members met at the Stoke Newington School. Their debut single “Fill My Gums With Blood” caught the attention ofBBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens — and building upon a rapidly growing profile, the band wound up playing at the BBC Introducing Stage at 2014’s Glastonbury Festival.

Since then the band has released two critically applauded albums — 2015’s debut effort A Dream Outside and 2018’s Where Wildness Grows. The band’s highly-anticipated, third full-length album Sanctuary is slated for a January 31, 2020 release through Liberator Music. Produced by the band’s old friend, Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jack Steadman, the album reportedly finds the band ambitiously pushing their sound in a decidedly pop leaning direction while recapturing the magic and vibe the quartet felt while writing and recording their debut effort. Influenced by Homer’s Odyssey, the album’s material finds the band’s primary songwriter Felix Bushe tapping into personal pain — but while coming out throwing punches and fighting.

Interestingly, the album’s latest single “Heavenly Maybe” is a slinky and shimmering pop song centered around Nile Rodgers-like guitar, a sinuous bass line, a funky, disco-like groove, four-on-the-floor drumming, Bushe’s achingly plaintive vocals and an infectious radio friendly hook. And while being a slickly produced club banger, the song is imbued with a world weary ennui, as Bushe’s narrator details the experience of partying as a way of distracting him from his serious, real life problems. 

Directed by David East, the video follows a lonely man who heads out to a club to catch a band and to dance his problems away — but it seems only temporary. “‘Heavenly Maybe’ is the second part of a two-part video we made with David East in Berlin earlier this year. Across the two, we wanted to create something which captured the thematic essence of the album as a whole whilst allowing each song its own fitting backdrop. The song itself is essentially about going out and trying to forget all of your troubles, and how ultimately problematic that is as a form of release.”