Chosen by DJ Monk
Despite the current lockdown, we are still receiving a healthy bundle of submissions for our coveted ‘Video Of The Week’ title. While some artists are trying to find new ways of visually interpreting their songs, others obviously have had the guts of their filming completed in advance of the global quarantine, with the finishing touches being added in isolated post-production. This week’s selection sees a balance of these two approaches, with the latter exemplified by our first offering.
Unlike many artists, punk songsmith Derek Zanetti – aka The Homeless Gospel Choir – decided to proceed with the release of his latest album, the cathartic and prophetic ‘This Land Is Your Landfill’ this past week. As the man himself told us: “It only made sense to me to release the record as planned, in a time where people are cooped up inside of their homes and in desperate need of something new.”
To coincide with the album release, Zanetti also presented us with the second single to be lifted from it, ‘Don’t Compare’, a hard-hitting indictment of the toxic power of social media with a core message of “don’t you dare compare yourself to anyone but you”. it’s accompanied by a suitably dystopian, and ironic, video, which beautifully presents the song’s theme in a tongue-in-cheek but appropriately timely manner:
Next up we have Swedish prog rock legends and pioneers Katatonia, who also dropped a new album this past week, in the form of the epic ‘City Burials’, from which they have drawn this, the third single, ‘The Winter Of Our Passing’, which comes complete with a suitably nihilistic animation which admirably reflects the dense and dark nature of both the song and the band’s trademark sound. Katatonia have also announced that they will be hosting a special live stream on 9 May, during which they will premiere three of the songs from the new album.
We keep the mood slightly dark for our next shortlisted offering, which comes from the three ladies who make up the Los Angeles coven by the name of High Priestess and the title track of their just-released new album, ‘Casting The Circle’, which had our very own Astrocreep positively salivating in his recent review. Bassist and vocalist Marianna Fiel toldl us: “’Casting The Circle’ is the opening of a portal that bridges the gap between performer and audience into a unison blend of light and darkness. Since as a band we currently not able to play shows, we hope this video fills up the quarantine needs for occult b-movies and live performances.”
Our final offering comes from Arizona-based Images Of Eden, who have released their latest single, ‘Autumn Is Burning’ before they have even finished their forthcoming new album, ‘Angel Born’, is even finished (it’s at the mixing stage apparently). Frontman Gordon Tittsworth explained the reason for releasing the single so far in advance: “[It] was the very last song written for the upcoming album and is about an increasingly volatile society that leads to an inevitable martial law/police state. The idea for the song flooded out in September 2019, as an ‘afterthought,’ but due to the intensity of the concept, we decided to do a music video for it. In December, 2019, we laid out a full script (treatment) depicting one man’s ‘end times’ apocalyptic journey and how his faith leads him to safety. We were going to hold off and release this along with the ‘Angel Born’ album, but decided to release the video now due to its almost ‘prophetic’ and haunting relevancy of the current state of the world in shutdown/ quarantine.”
That’s your lot for this week. Hope you have enjoyed the new sights and sounds we have brought to you this week. Until next time, keep ‘er lit, keep between the hedges and #StayTheFuckHome…
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