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Weekly Video Roundup

It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball-stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:

Iman – Naive

First up this week is the latest single from London singer-songwriter Iman. Naive is the first new material of 2016 for Iman, and she’s thundered out of the gate on this track. Huge, echoic vocals and a chorus that hooks you irretrievably, Iman’s voice is fiery and just seems effortlessly smooth. Naive is like late-90s RnB set to 21st century production. Stellar in other words.

The video was co-directed and co-edited by Iman herself and is a damn good first effort. Simple, artistic and full of movement, the video plants the focus exactly where it should be: square on the singer. Look out for more of Iman in 2016.

Alex The Astronaut – Half Of 21st Street

You would assume someone going by the name Alex The Astronaut would lead a life full of adventures, and you’d be correct in this case. At just 20 years of age, she’s already lived in Sydney, London and now Long Island, New York; where she is on a soccer scholarship, studying maths and physics and also somehow finding the time to be a burgeoning musical artist. There’s no way she sleeps though.

Half Of 21st Street is her debut single and is a ripper. A simple acoustic riff anchors the song, surrounded by a cacophony of different noises that add layer after layer to the song, its clever lyrics delving into a love story made stronger by her confident voice. The tempo picking up to play the song out was a fantastic touch too.

The video was filmed around New York City and will have anyone who has ever been wistful to return, the scenes in Washington Square Park (where you’ll see Alex The Astronaut showing off some of those soccer tricks) in particular.

Sky’s the limit for Alex The Astronaut from here.

LANKS – Golden Age

Melbourne multi-instrumentalist producer LANKS has gotten all kinds of creative this week on the video for latest single Golden Age. A punchy backbeat and some stabby synths, the song crests and falls beautifully while steered along by LANKS’ vocals showing off a wide range.

If the song doesn’t ensnare you, the video it’s accompanied by surely will. Points to LANKS again for creativity and dedication, rigging himself upside down in his living room for over three hours because really all of your blood belongs in your head and consciousness is overrated anyway.

Catch LANKS on his East Coast tour launching Golden Age when it kicks off in April.

Sex On Toast – Doubt

The Weekly Video Roundup awards for both Largest Group and Best Band Name go straight to Melbourne 10(!)-piece Sex On Toast this week and their latest single Doubt. It’s one of the most unique songs and videos I’ve seen so far this year, elements of everyone from Queen to Brian Wilson to Journey with a solid background of jazzy noise, the chorus will make you want to leap out of your seat.

The video only makes it better, with Sex On Toast enjoying all kinds of Caddyshack-esque hijinks on the golf course. ‘Zany’ is definitely the operative word here.

If you’re digging what you’re hearing (and seeing) and you happen to be in Melbourne then you can catch Sex On Toast all throughout the remainder of March as they enjoy a residency at the Gasometer.

The Last Shadow Puppets – Aviation

If you’ve not heard of The Last Shadow Puppets as a group before then you’ve definitely heard of them as part of their individual efforts. Like a British (and one Los Angeleno) indie rock version of The Avengers, members include Alex Turner (of Arctic Monkeys fame), Miles Kane (of The Rascals fame), producer James Ford (of Simian Mobile Disco fame) and Zach Dawes (of Mini Mansions fame). They released their debut album The Age Of The Understatement back in 2008 and went through a period of inactivity until last year, when they announced a new album was on the way in 2016.

Aviation is the third single from that upcoming record (titled Everything You’ve Come To Expect) and there’s an air of almost gothic darkness about it, with a very The Smiths-y guitar riff and backbeat coupled with Turner’s unmistakeable voice and some atmospheric strings. The video complements it well, shot on a sunny beach while Turner and Kane appear to have run afoul of a mob boss, ho has them digging their own graves in the sand while a blindfolded strings section plays them out.

Everything You’ve Come To Expect is out April 1st via Domino.

Massive Attack – Ritual Spirit (ft. Azekel)

Bristol trip-hop royalty Massive Attack have a new single out. Featuring fellow British singer Azekel, Ritual Spirit (from their recently released EP of the same name) is a slow-burning and almost menacing track held down by a handclap backbeat and pulsating synths, layers of sound surrounding Azekel’s haunting vocals.

They’ve enlisted some star power for their music video, one Kate Moss lending her talents to this one, swinging a lightbulb around as she dances in the dark. Simple yet very effective. Massive Attack reportedly have a new album in the works, the first since 2010’s Heliogoland. With Tricky back in the mix now after 20 years, Massive Attack fans have every reason to be chomping at the bit.

Ritual Spirit is out now via Virgin.

DMA’s – In The Moment

Presently taking over the entire world after the release of their wildly acclaimed debut album Hills End, Newtown’s own DMA’s have released another video for one of the album’s many highlight tracks in In The Moment.

A soaring chorus, infectious and fuzzy guitar licks, Tommy O’Dell’s now unmistakeable croon, all have become part of the sound that has brought DMA’s to a worldwide audience and all are present on In The Moment. It’s accompanying video sees the trio looking unfairly cool in every shot, be it at sunset on a rooftop, riding pushies and kicking soccer balls in the street or a strobe-lit room in tuxedos.

DMA’s are killing it with everything they touch at the moment. You can catch them on their Hills End tour of Australia (that’s swiftly selling out!) when they return home from a monster American and European tour in May and June.

Flatbush Zombies – This Is It

One of the most hyped and widely anticipated debut albums in quite some time was Flatbush Zombies’ 3001: A Laced Odyssey, which dropped last week to some rave reviews. Their second single from the record was launched this week with a video to boot, This Is It.

The Brooklyn trio have absolutely brought the goods, This Is It just one very nifty slice of a cracking album. Clocking in at nearly six minutes, it’s sprawling and dark and magnificent. A simple piano melody dancing with some rapid-fire trap beats and some fiery hot verses on top of it all. What you might almost call some easy listening hip-hop.

The video mirrors the song’s simplicity, black and white shots of the group on a stark white background, the focus solely on them. We’re all waiting very patiently for an Australian tour…

3001: A Laced Odyssey is out now via Flatbush Zombies’ own label The Glorious Dead.

Image: YouTube.