With the release of 2016’s Life With Lobsters, an album consisting of glitchy, summery indie dance pop, the Los Angeles-based collective NVDES fronted by founding member and primary songwriter Josh Ocean received over 10 million streams across all digital platforms, landed on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart — and as a result, also received phrase from The Fader, Nylon and others. Building on a growing profile, the project’s latest single “Turning Heads” off their forthcoming La NVDITÉ EP will further cement Ocean’s reputation for crafting scuzzy, breakneck dance punk along the lines of Sound of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem, Radio 4 and others, complete with angular guitar chords, a propulsive bass line, boom-bap beats and a rousingly anthemic hook. And while clearly being summery, the track also manages to be incredibly dance floor friendly.
Tag: Los Angeles CA
New Video: Holy Wars Returns with Inventive and Symbolic Visuals for “Warrior”
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you may recall that the Connecticut-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter Kat Leon initially developed a reputation for writing material that focused on her obsessions with death and the occult as one-half of the Los Angeles, CA-based indie electro pop act Sad Robot, with Long Beach, CA-born, Los Angeles, CA-based multi-instrumentalist Nick Perez. With both of her parents suddenly dying within months of one another, Leon plunged into a period of profound grief, an dafter taking much needed time to grieve, Leon started her latest, solo recording project Holy Wars, which is largely influenced by what was arguably some of the darkest days of her life; in fact, the Holy Wars project in many ways is a way to extrapolate the tumultuous feelings and thoughts she had during that period, and expressing it creatively — with the result being her debut EP Mother released last month and its follow up Father slated for release later on this year. And while both EPs are dedicated to her respective parents and possess material that’s — at points — dark and foreboding, it’s not completely depressing or nihilistic; in fact, Mother’s first single “I Can’t Feel A Thing” is complete, cathartic release paired with an anthemic, arena rock/hard pop-leaning sound reminiscent of Paramore — but there’s a an adult angst at its core, full of the bitter recognition that death is an inconsolable and permanent parting.
Mother’s second single “Orphan” was a slow-burner of a track that focuses on a rather embittering truth: that everyone you will ever know, care about and love will one day die, and that it’ll leave the survivors reeling from their losses, and trying to piece together their lives. Leon and her backing band pair that sense of reeling pain with a story and forceful, 90s alt rock-leaning song structure — quiet verses, stormy and loud choruses. And while being stormy, the song expresses a weary acceptance.
“Warrior,” the third and most recent single continues in a similar vein as its predecessors as it’s a rousingly anthemic song inspired by and written by the underdog, the downtrodden and the disenfranchised as a proverbial call to arms, focusing on recognizing one’s inner strength and resolve to fight back, and ultimately show their own innate abilities and powers.
Directed by Jeremy Cordy and Kat Leon, the recently released video stars Elijah Potruch as the brave, alter ego of the bullied CW Mead, and much like Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club in which the lines of reality and fiction become hopelessly blurred. To balance some of the dark nature of the song and the video, Leon envisioned the battle between “The Warrior” and his tormentors to be between kids that could have easily been cast in movies like The Sandlot, Stand by Me and Lord of the Flies, ending with a battle featuring confetti blood, a soccer ball mace, and cardboard swords that turn to metal. The video manages to continue Leon’s reputation for paring her music with inventive and symbolic visuals.
New Video: Danish-born Los Angeles-Based Artist Dinner Releases Americana-Inspired Visuals for “Un-American Girl”
Anders Rhedin is a Danish-born, Los Angeles, CA-based producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who may be best known for a brief stint collaborating with Danish-born singer/songwriter and guitarist Jannis Noya Makrigiannis in Copenhagen -based Choir of Young Believers, an act that had multiple chart topping hits in Denmark and was named “Best New Act” in 2009’s Danish Music Awards. Since relocating to Los Angeles several years ago, Rhedin started his own solo recording project Dinner, which received attention with the release of his debut EP collection and his full-length debut Psychic Lovers.
With his sophomore effort New Work, which is slated for a September 8, 2017 release through renowned indie label Captured Tracks Records, Rhedin had a desire to do things differently. “I just needed to get back to the approach I used when I was still self-release cassettes back in Copenhagen,” Rhedin explains in press notes. “I spent way too much time on the previous record. I was sitting in front of a computer screen alone for seven months working on it, obsessing over it. This time, I wanted to work very fast in order think less. I wanted to collaborate more. I hoped that other people’s presence would keep my perfectionism in check.” Rhedin enlisted Regal Degal’s and Ducktails’ Josh Da Costa to co-produce New Work, and the album features guest spots from Tonstartssbandht’s Andy White, and unlike the previous album, an array of American-born and-based musicians including Blouse’s Charlie Hilton, Infinite Bisous’ and Connan Mockasin’s Rori McCarthy, The Paranoyds’ Staz Lindes and Sean Nicholas Savage. The recording sessions found Rhedin, Da Costa and company working during the late night, off-hours at a studio in an industrial section of downtown Los Angeles, with material being recorded on the spot — with little preparation time. “A lot of my favorite music is American. I thought it would be fun to go a little bit less Euro on this one,” Rhedin says in press notes. “I’m pretty Euro by myself, some might say. I wanted to add a different color.”
In between sessions, Rhedin recoded and overdubbed material in his apartment with a 4 track recorder from the early 80s. We did very little editing, we just tried to record what was there. You’ll hear a lot of first-takes on the record,” Rhedin informs us in press notes. “The best part of the process was driving home early in the morning though the empty streets of LA, listening to the night’s recordings. Because it was such an immediate experience.”
Reportedly, New Work and its first single “Un-American Woman” was inspired a by William Blake’s “Proverbs of Hell” and Rhedin’s own personal experiences. “‘Un-American Woman’ is a song I wrote just before I stopped going out, just before I stopped sleeping around with woman,” the Danish-born, Los Angeles-based producer, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist says in press notes. “The song seems to be about disillusionment and a fear of being stuck in a certain lifestyle. But it also also touches upon the potential transformational aspects of ‘bad things.’ Nothing’s black or white, good or bad. There is just life-force moving. A constant movement. ‘The road of excess leads to the place of wisdom’ in the words of Blake.”
Sonically speaking, New Work’s first single manages to be a mischievously anachronistic and effortless meshing of Joy Division and The Smiths-like post-punk, 60s guitar pop and psych pop with Around the World in a Day-era Prince, as the song manages to possesses a similar moody Romanticism paired with an ability to craft a slick and infectious hook.
Interestingly, the recently released visuals for the song were shot in and around Las Vegas and manages to evoke the song’s haunting loneliness and swooning Romanticism; but interestingly enough the video features Mac DeMarco’s brother Hank dancing with his ballet troupe, and a sequence featuring a bunch of young people roughhousing in a seedy motel room. It’s decidedly American but from an outsider’s point of view.
Perhaps best known as a founding member, vocalist, pianist and primary songwriter of Los Angeles, CA-based indie quintet Local Natives, an act that’s received attention nationally for a sound that has been compared favorably to the likes Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend and Grizzly Bear, Kelcey Ayer steps out from behind the auspices of a band for his solo side project, Jaws of Love. Unsurprisingly, Ayer’s new project reportedly sees Ayer honing in on what he’s best known for — sparse yet emotive piano ballads, as highlighted on his primary gig’s critically applauded sophomore effort Hummingbird.
Tasha Sits Close to the Piano, Ayer’s Jews of Love. debut takes was named by Ayer’s wife, who named the album after the their dog, Tasha — and the album is slated for a September 22, 2017 release through House Arrest Records, and Ayer’s Jaws of Love. debut single, the eponymous “Jaws of Love,” begins with a spectral arrangement in which he accompanies his plaintive and aching vocals with a gorgeous and mournful pianos before turing into a moody, and ambient synth pop track seemingly inspired by Narrow Stairs-era Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service and Brian Eno; but at its core is a sweetly swooning love song that reveals a visceral vulnerability as the song, much like the rest of the album’s material, focuses on love’s trials and tribulations, with the recognition that love may arguably be one of the more difficult, insane and absolutely necessary things in our lives.
Comprised of Los Angeles-based husband-and-wife duo Bridgette Moody and John Seasons, both of whom share songwriting duties, Haunted Summer have developed a reputation for crafting dreamily hypnotic and lush material complete with string arrangements and sultry electronic textures; in fact, their previous EP, Something in the Water paired their gorgeous sound with a material that lyrically focused on a nostalgic world of young love and long-forgotten memories. Adding to a growing profile, the Los Angeles, CA-based husband-and-wife duo have toured with Taken By Trees, Deafheaven, The Polyphonic Spree, Coeur de Pirate, Olafur Arnalds, Carla Morrison, Meiko, Basia Bulat, JOVM favorite Geographer, Bauhaus‘ David J and others.
Spirit Guides, the duo’s forthcoming full-length effort was written while the duo was touring and was recorded in several different studios including Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree, CA; Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood, CA; Comp-ny LA and studios owned by Eugene, OR-based Ninkasi Brewing and features guest spots from Eagles of Death Metal’s Dave Catching and Masters of Reality‘s Chris Goss. And the album’s latest single “Every Step” finds the band playing anthemic, 90s-inspired alt rock, complete with fuzzy power chords, a rousing hook and a gorgeous melody before a dreamy, Mazzy Star-like coda closes out a song that reminds me quite a bit of Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins, Silversun Pickups and others but with a swooning earnestness.
The duo will be embarking on a West Coast tour throughout July and August. Check out tour dates below.
TOUR DATES
07.29.17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Autry Museum
07.30.17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space*
07.31.17 – Tucson, AZ @ Sky Bar*
08.01.17 – San Diego, CA @ Blonde Bar*
08.02.17 – Boulder City, NV @ The Tap*
08.03.17 – Redding, CA @ The Dip*
08.04.17 – Salem, OR @ The Space*
08.05.17 – Eugene, OR @ Whiteaker Bloc Party*
08.06.17 – Portland, OR @ Rontoms*
08.07.17 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project*
08.08.17 – San Francisco, CA @ Elbo Room*
08.09.17 – Merced, CA @ CASA*
* = w/Avi Buffalo
Over the past month or so, I’ve written a bit about the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock duo Umm. Comprised of Stefanie Drootin, best known for stints in The Good Life, Big Harp and in the backing bands of She & Him and Bright Eyes, and her Big Harp bandmate (and her spouse), Chris Senseney, the Southern California duo specialize in a decidedly 90s, alt-rockinspired sound, full of fuzzy power chords, plaintive and swooning harmonizing and anthemic hooks reminiscent of The Breeders, The Posies and others. And in that same month or so period, you may recall the 120 Minutes-like “I’m in Love,” and the dark yet breezy “Black Summer” off the duo’s soon-to-be released debut together, Double Worshipper.
Double Worshipper‘s third and latest single is the slow-burning and moody ballad “Yeah I Want It,” and while further cementing their growing reputation for crafting anthemic, 90s alt rock-inspired tracks with rousing hooks; but what makes this particular track different is its emphasis on swooning boy-girl harmonies and a dreamily wistful melody, which makes the song the most summery, if not most dream pop-leaning song they’ve released to date.
Comprised of Grayson Hamm (keys, lead vocals), Walt Blythe (guitar), Brandon Brewer (bass, vocals) and Wes Belk (drums), the Oklahoma City, OK-based psych rock quartet SPACE4LEASE can trace their origins to when its founding member and primary songwriter met his bandmates while they were all attending the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma. And although they all came from vastly different musical backgrounds and had different musical tastes, the band formed as a unique convergence of all their influences, including Tame Impala, My Morning Jacket, Big Thief, Andy Shauf and others while lyrically, their material currently focuses on lost love, the unknown and inevitable life experiences. With the release of their 2016 debut EP, Hiraeth, an effort focused on the complicated process of self-discovery, the Oklahoman psych rock quartet toured extensively across the Midwest, winning the praise of The Flaming Lips‘ Derek Brown, who described them as “Fellow Okies that wonderfully mix the blissfulness and melancholy of the great wide open.”
The band’s latest single “Must Be Something” is a moody and atmospheric bit of psych rock with some gorgeously shimmering guitar work, a sinuous and propulsive bass line and a rousingly anthemic hook that sonically brings a couple of different acts to mind — JOVM mainstays Caveman, Los Angeles-based indie rock act Hands and others; but with a slightly more expansive vibe inspired by the endless possibility of the road, of seeing and experiencing things you’d never expect, and how all of that can change and influence your life. As the band’s Grayson Hamm explains in press notes about the song, “Coming from a small town, I never had the experience of the big city life, but surprisingly it wasn’t these destinations that intrigued me the most. It was the journey, and the miles, and time it took to get there. Once we were out on the road all by ourselves just driving and seeing the countryside, this quest of finding myself really started to take effect. This is where the premise of the chorus let alone the whole song comes into play. “There must be something in the way how, there’s nothing standing in our way now.” I started to realize that the only barrier that was standing in the way was myself. The world was just waiting for me.
“Travel, explore, because the world is waiting for you – but so many of us convince ourselves to push these things off until one day it can be too late. It is this internal fear that holds us back. Talking ourselves out of it. Second guessing ourselves. Time passes all the same regardless if you’re sitting at home in your shell, or if you’re testing those limits of fear and breaking your shell, even if it’s uncomfortable at times. The only person standing in your way is you.”
Last month, I wrote about the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock duo Umm. Comprised of Stefanie Drootin, best known for stints in The Good Life, Big Harp and in the backing bands of She & Him and Bright Eyes, and her Big Harp bandmate Chris Senseney, the duo specialize in an alt rock-inspired sound, complete with fuzzy power chords, plaintive and swooning harmonizing and anthemic hooks reminiscent of The Breeders, The Posies and others; in fact, as a child of the 80s, who started to come of age in the 90s, “I’m in Love,” off the duo’s soon-to-be released full-length Double Worshipper instantly reminded me of countless hours watching 120 Minutes, making mixtapes of my favorite songs off the radio, spending even more hours in record stores and trading cassette tapes with friends. Interestingly enough, the album’s latest single “Black Summer” will further cement the duo’s growing reputation for crafting 90s alt rock inspired material; but in the case of their latest single, the song possesses a breeziness that underlies both the dark lyricism and anthemic nature of the song.
New Video: The 120 Minutes-Inspired Sounds and Visuals of The Luxembourg Signal’s “Laura Palmer”
With the release of their first single and their 2014 debut effort, the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock act The Luxembourg Signal — initially comprised of founding members Beth Arzy (vocals), Betsy Moyer (vocals), Johnny Joyner (guitar) Brian Espinoza (drums) and Ginny Pitchford (keyboards) — quickly received attention from dream pop, indie pop and shoegazer aficionados, as well enthusiastic reviews for lush soundscapes paired with pop sensibilities and ethereal vocals. Over the past couple of years, the band expanded to a septet with the addition of Kelly Davis (guitar) and Daniel Kumiega (bass), and as a septet they released a split 7 inch single with Soft Science which featured a Robert Hampton (of Loop and Main fame) remix of “Dying Star.”
Last year, the newly constituted septet went to the studio to complete their sophomore effort, Blue Field, which Shelflife and Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten will release this fall, and the album finds the band continuing their ongoing collaboration with engineer Mark Rains, who worked with them on their first album — and reportedly the material on the album finds the band with a bolder, more developed sound with a darker undertone. Along with that, the band collaborates with The Field Mice’s and Trembling Blue Stars’ Bobby Wratten on “Fall Feeling.” However, the album’s first single “Laura Palmer” sounds as though it owes a debt to the classic and beloved 4AD Records sound of the 80s as the arrangement features layers of shimmering guitar chords paired with four-on-the-floor drumming, a soaring hook, and ethereal and wistful vocals.
The recently released visuals for “Laura Palmer” begin with a David Lynch-vibe as the viewer sees dust being blown in gorgeous patterns before turning into a lonely, late night stretch of blacktop while the rest of the video manages to be reminiscent of 120 Minutes-era MTV but with a lysergic vibe.
Now, if you’ve been following this site over the past couple of years of its seven year history, you’ve come across a handful of posts featuring the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock/garage rock trio L.A. Witch. Comprised of Sade Sanchez (lead vocals, guitar), Irita Pai (bass, backing vocals) and Ellie English (drums), the trio have developed a reputation for crafting a grungy, garage rock sound that draws from late 50s-early 60s rock, The Pleasure Seekers, The Sonics, The Black Angels, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and others — all while bearing a resemblance to JOVM mainstay artists The Coathangers, Sharkmuffin and Death Valley Girls
Suicide Squeeze Records, the label home of The Coathangers and several others will be releasing the band’s self-titled debut on September 8, 2017, and the album’s latest single “Kill My Baby Tonight” is a sultry and swaggering murder ballad full of chugging and jangling guitar chords played through copious reverb and delay pedal. Sanchez’s sneering, venomous vocals slash through a propulsive and stormy rhythm section; but unlike any of their previously released singles, the Southern Californian trio’s latest single reveals both a steely self-assuredness and some of their most ambitious songwriting to date.
Earlier this week, I wrote about the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock/grunge rock quartet Ramonda Hammer. Comprised of founding member and primary songwriter Devin Davis, along with Andy Hengl, Justin Geter and Mark Edwards, the quartet derive their name from a woman, who was once featured on the early 2000s reality TV show Cheaters. Their self-released 2016 debut Whatever That Means was released to critical applause from Impose Magazine, Earmilk, PureVolume, Fuse TV and elsewhere, and as a result of a rapidly growing local and national profile, the band signed with New Professor Records and released “Zombie Sweater” to applause from Brooklyn Vegan, She Shreds Magazine, Blurred Culture and others. Adding to a growing profile, the band was named one of “LA’s hardest-working bands of 2016” by Oh My Rockness and one of the “best LA emerging bands of 2017 by The Deli Magazine.
Ramonda Hammer’s forthcoming EP Destroyers is slated for an August 4, 2017 release, and the effort’s jagged and off-kilter title track “Destroyers” received attention from this site and elsewhere for a sound that channeled The Breeders, Veruca Salt, The Mallard, Bleeding Rainbow, and others, complete with a rousingly anthemic hook before dissolving into a stormy yet cathartic coda; but at the heart of the song is an emotional ambivalence, as the song manages to be simultaneously feral yet bitterly ironic, triumphantly ass-kicking yet a little sad.
The EP’s latest single “Bender” as Davis explains was written while she was binge-watching Shameless for two weeks straight and she just couldn’t get off the couch to anything remotely productive. “In retrospect, I guess I could call it ‘research’ or whatever, because I ended up writing this song. But yeah, the lyrics are really just a conversation between two opposing sides in one’s brain. The verses ask questions from the more sane, healthy part of one’s psyche, and the choruses respond from the anxiety-ridden, depressed, and very frustrated side. And the reason this person (okay, it’s me!) is so effing frustrated is because they care so so so much, but when crippling depression sets in from time to time, when they get caught in a bender of some sort, it’s so hard to do the things that make you happy. In a final cry, I end the song with, ‘I swear that I deserve good things’ because I think I do and I know other people feel the same.” And while arguably being the most personal song Davis has written, it may be one of the more melodic and anthemic tunes they’ve released to date, sounding as though it could have been released between 1992 and 1996.
New Video: The Visceral Where the Wild Things Are-Inspired Visuals for Holy Wars’ Latest Single “Orphan”
Arguably best known as one half of Los Angeles, CA-based indie electro pop act Sad Robot, with Long Beach, CA-born, Los Angeles, CA-based multi-instrumentalist Nick Perez, Connecticut-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter Kat Leon developed a reputation for material that focused on her obsessions with death and the occult. With both of her parents suddenly dying within months of one another, Leon was plunged into a period of profound and heartbreaking grief. And after taking some necessary time to grieve, Leon began her latest, solo recording project Holy Wars, influenced by what may have been some of the darkest days of her life to date; in fact, the project in many ways to her is a way to extrapolate the tumultuous feelings and thoughts she had felt and thought during that period — with the result being her Holy Wars debut, double EP Mother, which will released at the end of this month and Father, which is slated for release later on this summer. Of course, both EPs are dedicated to her respective parents and while being dark and at points foreboding, the material isn’t completely nihilistic; in fact, Mother‘s first single “I Can’t Feel A Thing”is a cathartic release, rooted around an anthemic arena rock-like sound reminiscent of Paramore —but with profoundly adult angst, from the recognition that death is a permanent and inconsolable loss, a wound that can never really be healed, and that the only thing anyone can do is figure out a way to move forward.
Mother‘s second single “Orphan” is a slower burning, mid-tempo track that focuses on what may be the darkest, saddest and yet most true aspect of life: that everyone you ever know and love will one day die, and the survivors reeling from inconsolable loss have to piece together their lives, and with her backing band, Leon pairs that sentiment with a stormy and forceful arrangement within a 90s alt rock structure — quiet verses, stormy and loud choruses; however, much like “I Can’t Feel A Thing,” the song isn’t completely negative. Yes, it’s a weary acceptance but within that acceptance is a paradoxical vulnerability and strength.
Based on a concept by Katherine Pawlak and directed by Jeremy Cordy, the recently released visuals for “Orphan” is seemingly influenced by Where The Wild Things Are, Peter Pan, and The Lost Boys as Leon leads a troupe of orphans, who she ultimately gives a voice to express themselves. And much like the video for “I Can’t Feel A Thing,” the visuals are gorgeously, cinematically shot and incredibly visceral.
Last month, I wrote about the Los Angeles, CA-based quartet Sextile. Comprised of Melissa Scaduto, Eddie Wuebben, Sammy Warren and Brady Keen, the band, whose sound draws from 70s punk, 80s New Wave, synthwave and early, industrial electronica, derives their name from the classic, astrological meaning of sextile, an astrological aspect that is made when two planets or other celestial bodies are 60 degrees apart in the sky.
Now, as you may recall, “One Of These,” off the band’s forthcoming sophomore effort, Albeit Living, managed to sound as though it were influenced by The Jesus and Mary Chain, A Place to Bury Strangers, Wire, Public Image, Ltd., early Ministry and early Nine Inch Nails as it featured the band pairing a propulsive stomp with scorching feedback, chilly synths, a dance floor-worthy hook with a feral intensity. However, the album’s latest single “Who Killed Six” features angular guitar chords, punchily delivered lyrics and industrial clang and clatter in what arguably may be the most punk rock and New Wave-inspired song they’ve released to date; in fact, the song reminds me of Pink Flag-era Wire and Joy Division, complete with a scuzzy and gritty feel.
New Video: The Gorgeously Cinematic and Expressive Visuals for Black Needle Noise and Jennie Vee’s “Heaven”
John Fryer is a London, UK-born, Los Angeles, CA-based multi-instrumentalist and producer, who is best known for his work as a producer, shaping the sound of Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, much of the Mute Records, 4AD and Beggars’ Banquet roster, as well as Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets, Cradle of Filth and countless others. Fryer is also known as one-half of the duo This Moral Coil with Ivo Watts-Russell.
Fryer’s solo recording project Black Needle Noise continues his legacy for crafting lush and moody soundscapes as he collaborates wth a number of different vocalists; in fact, Lost in Reflections, the renowned producer and recording artist’s sophomore Black Needle Noise effort finds him working with Jennie Vee, Andrea Kerr, Chrysta Bell, Sivert Hoyem and others — and interestingly enough, it come-on the heels of Fryer’s collaboration with the aforementioned Chrysta Bell on a Twin Peaks-inspired cover of Julee Cruise, Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch’s “Falling.” Anyway, album single “Heaven” is a strikingly cinematic track which pairs Jennie Vee’s sultry and achingly tender vocals with a lush yet atmospheric production featuring swirling electronics, shimming guitar chords and industrial clang and clatter. And although the track will further cement his legacy for crafting a sound that you would have grown up obsessed with as a child of the 80s, the song also reveals not just his generosity in working with up-and-coming and contemporary artists, but it also reflects the contemplative, introspective nature of the album’s title — while pairing a dark sensuality with an visceral sense of heartbreak. In fact, the song’s narrator is facing the ghosts of a dysfunctional and controlling relationship that has lingered, even as she’s 4,000 thousand miles away.
Shot in a cinematic and creepy black an white, and directed by Talon McKee and Lloyd Galbraith, edited by Jennie Vee, featuring animation by Mark Francombe and choreographed by Caroline Haydon, the video starts its choreographer writhing and swooning in a combination of pleasure and heartache; but at its core is a protagonist, who expresses desire, vulnerability, and self-asurredness simultaneously.
Live Footage: Ruby Force Performs “Church and State” at Pheasant Studios
You may recall that earlier this month, I wrote about Erin McLaughlin, a Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, whose solo recording project Ruby Force reportedly captures her personal journey of self-discovery through hard-fought and honest storytelling-based songwriting focusing on tales of love gained and lost and her own life. And with her soon-to-be released Ruby Force debut Evolutionary War, McLaughlin along with an incredibly accomplished backing band featuring Elijah Thomson, who has played with Everest, Delta Spirit and Father John Misty; Richard Swift, who has played with The Black Keys, The Shins, The Arcs and Foxygen; Frank Lenz, who has played with Pedro The Lion; and Sean Watkins, who has played with Nickel Creek have written deeply personal yet accessible material based on a particular period of McLaughlin’s life; in fact, as she explained to Rolling Stone, “it strings together like a narrative essentially, about how I love.”
“Cowboy,” which I wrote about a few weeks ago is a sweet, old-timey/honky-tonk-inspired country song, and the song’s narrator describes a hotly passionate yet dysfunctional, romantic relationship with a cowboy, who persistently and predictably breaks her heart; but she defiantly and proudly loves him because after all, they’ve been through everything and anything together. And although you’ve likely heard such a theme in countless country songs, McLaughlin delivers her lyrics with a beguiling mix of easygoing, self-assuredness, earnestness, flirtatiousness and self-effacing irony.
“Church and State,” Evolutionary War’s latest single, much like the preceding single was inspired by a deeply personal experience — and in this case, “a mystically transitional phase in my life when my best girlfriends and I were living in a tiny Victorian house on the literal corner of Church and State Streets in Redlands, CA,” McLaughlin explained to The Bluegrass Situation. “We were playing at the Martini Lounge on Saturday nights and singing harmonies in the church band on Sunday mornings. So, you know, the song pretty much used me to write itself.” While lyrically, the song reveals a novelist’s attention to detail — particularly the aging woman in a pink rocking chair, stomping her beat to a rhythm, the feeling of love and comfort the song’s narrator feels by being around her beloved friends and the woman who’s love and devotion saved a young cowboy from hell; but paired with a slow-burning and atmospheric arrangement that gives McLaughlin’s vocals room to stretch and roam. Interestingly, her vocals manage to channel Bonnie Raitt, circa “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” And from this new single, I think that McLaughlin may arguably be one of country’s up-and-coming stars.