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:
Louisahhh!!! – Ready
One of the best and brightest young producers out of Los Angeles is Louisahhh!!!, whose Shadow Work EP released last year has swiftly become a club favourite. Her latest single from that EP is Ready, a sprawling, near robotic techno track that cascades with layers of sound juxtaposed with powerful spoken word across its near six minutes to create a unique listening experience.
The video, directed by Philippe Cuendet, looks like a warped tape played on a VHS system that needs its heads cleaned. It’s full of pulsating waves of static and flashes of subliminal messages to keep your eyeballs entranced along with your ears.
Shadow Work is out now on Bromance Records. Louisahhh!!! is also enjoying a residency on Triple J across June.
HABITS – Ether
Having just released their latest EP Ugly Cry to a sellout crowd at the Northcote Social Club, Melbourne duo HABITS have just launched the video for one of the standout tracks on that record in Ether. Haunting and ethereal, a slow-burning and multilayered backbeat builds beautifully to create a track absolutely perfect for a cold winter night with the lights dimmed.
The video is a clever combination of lo-fi footage of the duo on an animated bank of monitors, the dark and dull shades throughout fitting the sonic vibe of the song just perfectly.
Ugly Cry is out now on HABITS’ Bandcamp.
Bassnectar – Reaching Out
Moving to Santa Cruz for this next one and the all powerful Bassnectar, who has a stunning new single ahead of his Unlimited LP landing today. Reach Out is the name, boasting an utterly lush and vibrant soundscape of production that showcases exactly why Bassnectar is at the top of the electronica game.
The video is equally as eyeball-grabbing, with plenty of birth symbolism and some absolutely jaw-dropping visual effects showing the protagonist breaking forth and floating as if through water inside an endlessly spacious room.
Unlimited is out today on Amorphous Music.
LASTLINGS – You
Gold Coast sibling duo LASTLINGS are back with a brand new single and video after a fantastic 2015 on the back of debut EP Unreality. You is their latest, a gorgeous track anchored by shimmering electronic production and singer Amy’s icy vocals. The chorus absolutely pops.
The video, directed by ORFN (who shot to fame after directing the video for Hoops by The Rubens) was shot across multiple locations in Tokyo and captures some of the better recognised aspects of Japanese aesthetic such as Geisha and cherry blossoms just beautifully.
Catch LASTLINGS as part of the Purple Sneakers 10th Birthday celebrations at Vivid Live in Sydney this weekend.
Clarence Clarity – Splitting Hairs (ft. Pizza Boy)
London meets St. Louis in this next one, with the former represented by electronic singer-songwriter Clarence Clarity and the latter by the fantastically-monikered Pizza Boy. The two have joined forces on Clarence Clarity’s brand new one Splitting Hairs.
Pizza Boy’s flow positively simmers over the off-kilter production, Clarity singing a throaty and infectious chorus. It’s a unique pairing that works tremendously. The accompanying video is not your average lyric video, Clarity and Pizza Boy performing in just one window of a very active browser (lots of cats of course).
Look for more great stuff from both these artists in the near future.
Abbe May – Are We Flirting
Perth songstress Abbe May has a brand new one too in the smouldering Are We Flirting? With her ghostly falsetto juxtaposed with her smoky, almost spoken word delivery, May has the listener feeling hot under the collar throughout (and that guitar solo is pure heat).
If you like cats you’ll love this video, a nice little grey one slinking around Abbe May almost in time to the music. We can’t wait for what else she has in store for us with the impending release of her next album Bitchcraft later in 2016.
The Creases – Impact
One of my absolute favourite bands ever to come out of Brisbane are The Creases, and we’ve been loving huge new single Impact something chronic since it was released just a couple of weeks back. Grandiose, ambitious, catchy and just a wonderful stomping rock tune, it’s been ripping up the airwaves and for good reason and now it has an accompanying video.
While the band rips it up in a vintage living room, the camera pans between a bunch of other rooms where an assortment of characters enjoy the song in their own unique ways before meeting up with the band for a raucous finish. The very first time The Creases have used an outside director (Sophie Hayward) for a music video, it bottom line looks like it was one of the most fun shoots ever.
You can feel Impact for yourself live when The Creases tour Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne from July 2.
Violent Soho – So Sentimental
And wrapping this week’s roundup up with another of the greatest Brisbane bands in Violent Soho and the video for their huge single So Sentimental. Already a live standout and an absolute belter, a chugging guitar riff building into a big singalong chorus fans have been going bonkers for since it was released on their smash album WACO earlier this year.
The video sees the Violent Soho boys heading out for a sunny day on the road in a beat up station wagon, starting their day with a carton of XXXX Gold (as every good day ever has started), the rural landscapes reeking of fresh air and serenity, before stopping at the beach for an impromptu jam. Very warm and fuzzy stuff.
WACO is out now via I Oh You.
Image: YouTube