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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:

Boys Noize – Starchild (ft. Poliça)

With fourth album Mayday just weeks away, Berlin producer Boys Noize has released the third track from that record this week Starchild. Featuring Minneapolis synth pop stars Poliça, it’s a floating, ambient track with an onion’s worth of different layers and sounds.

The video, directed by LIL INTERNET, stars Poliça frontwoman Channy Leaneagh wandering through the Miami nightlife in a clear rain poncho to a lot of inquisitive looks. Ethereal and spacy, it’s a heck of a song and video and only builds upon the already sky-high anticipation surrounding the way forward for Boys Noize.

Mayday is out May 20th on Pod via Inertia.

Third Floor – You Are The One

This is the third in a four-part audiovisual EP series from Sydney-via-Britain producer Third Floor, also known as Aaron Bannie. Dream State is his debut record and is embracing the increasingly cinematic aspects of music. The track has an 80s pop feel to it, click percussion and big synths abound with wavy warped out vocals making for a catchy hook.

The video continues the story of protagonist Rose, whose day takes a rather harrowing turn after breakfast and a trip to the beach. We won’t spoil it, but the combination of gorgeous synth pop and a dark, twisting tale are incredibly compelling.

We’re hanging on for the sure-to-be-big finale of Dream State

Pikelet – The Neighbour’s Grass

Winning the award for most delicious name this week is Melbourne’s Pikelet, also known as Evelyn Morris. She’s back with a brand new record in Tronc and has this week released a video from one of its tracks in The Neighbour’s Grass. Weird beats and noises scuttle behind vocals both spoken and sung, there’s a ghostly piano interlude and the sound of dishes clinking, the futuristic and the mundane mingling to surprisingly great effect.

The video looks like the testing stages of a glitchy Playstation game from the late 90s, with floating heads and blurry dancing figures making the entire experience as off-kilter as it gets.

Tronc is out digitally and on cassette tape May 6th via Chapter Music.

SAFIA – Make Them Wheels Roll

Heading to the nation’s capital for this next one with the latest single from Canberra electronic band SAFIA. Just days away from kicking off their tour of the further-flung reaches of the country as part of the Groovin’ The Moo festival, the trio have this week released the video for latest single Make Them Wheels Roll.

Slick, soulful and driving, it’s in surefire consideration already for a certain list celebrated on Australia Day. That falsetto chorus is utterly breathtaking by the way. The video, directed by Jimmy Ennett uses a whole lot of water as the protagonist, a common corporate drone, finds himself in, around and under it in some amazing shots.

Catch SAFIA at Groovin’ The Moo this weekend and next and then headlining their own tour around Australia launching Make Them Wheels Roll.

Jarbird – Iona

From the week before but too good not to share is the latest video from London band Jarbird. Iona is the latest single from their debut EP Such Is The House, which dropped back on March 5th to some excellent reviews. Quirky rhythms build up to a heavenly chorus, a whirlwind of different sounds all melded together intricately to create some of the cleverest pop you’ll hear all week.

The video unfurls in quite the same way, beginning in black and white with colours trickling in as the song twists and turns. They’re only new on the block but Jarbird are an act to keep an eye on.

Such Is The House is out now via Oskar.

Clea – Dire Consequences

I always love featuring artists from my local Brisbane in this roundup and songstress Clea is the best from this week. Dire Consequences is a song you’ve probably heard either on the airwaves or Spotify, where it climbed to #14 on the viral charts. Stunning is the best way to describe it, I get definite Christine McVie vibes immediately, almost like the song belongs in the middle of Tango In The Night. It’s dusky and enchanting and the chorus just throttles you.

The video places the focus squarely on Clea, crooning into the camera in the dark amid showers of glitter. Add Clea to the list of phenomenal singer-songwriters coming out of Brisbane at the moment. If she’s got more of these thought-provoking lyrics and expertly-crafted melodies up her sleeve she is going to be a big name in years to come.

High Violet – Only Heart

Moving south of the border for our penultimate video is the debut track from Sydneysiders High Violet. The male and female vocal harmonies interplay tremendously, it’s charged up pop rock that sounds like it should soundtrack an 80s movie montage where the main character is toughening up.

The video was shot in High Violet’s garage, replete with music posters everywhere and an old Pac Man arcade machine that plays the original Alien vs Predator (fuck!). High Violet just… they just rock, and the sky is the limit following a debut as auspicious as this.

The Murlocs – Unknown Disease

Wrapping up this week are one of my favourite bands in Geelong psychedelic rockers The Murlocs and their newest single Unknown Disease. It’s their latest release following their stellar sophomore LP Young Blindness that landed in March of this year.

With freaky fuzzed out guitars from a bygone era and the inimitable squawk of frontman Ambrose Kenny-Smith leading the way, Unknown Disease is one of Young Blindness’ standouts. The accompanying video is an acid trip and a fever dream of kaleidoscopic and amorphous animations over lo-fi footage of the band, the sickness described in the title is splattered all over this fantastic number. 2016 is the year of The Murlocs for sure.

Young Blindness is out now via Flightless/Remote Control.