Life can be strange… and hot. So is the new video from Karaoke. Paired with a brand new track from the ensemble, the clip represents an ambitious attempt to recreate a dreamlike state in the midst of the band’s performance. The result is bold and dramatic, and the anxious feel of “Baby” is rendered further impactful by the simplicity of director Haley Wetherington’s vision, a concept she first proposed to the band with a shoebox model.
Asked about that vision, vocalist Grace Bellury says the new single felt like the right fit because “…lyrically it’s about dreams having the power to disturb your reality in regards to love/sex/romance.” She elaborates: “The video explores passion that becomes warped, plus it kinda feels like a sexy dream, which I think makes it a nice visual companion to the song.” This is Karaoke’s first release since last year’s alluring debut How to Make You Boil, and it builds on the band’s ability to inject vintage psychedelia into thoroughly modern pop.
The primal emotional aches which permeate the EP aren’t diluted on “Baby,” but even at her most vulnerable, Bellury draws from a self-deprecating sense of humor which even touches her songwriting in its earliest stages. “The chorus lyrics are ‘Baby, you are so baby’ which is a reference to the Donnie and Joe Emerson song ‘Baby,’” she explains. “I firmly believed in my heart the lyrics to that song were ‘you’re so baby’ when they are in fact ‘yes oh baby.’ Learning the truth was upsetting, but as a panacea for my pain, I wrote my own ‘you’re so baby’ song.”
It’s experiences like this—ones which border on the inane, yet are easy to identify with—that make Karaoke’s dark and plaintive melodies so gripping. Life in all its happenstance is never all grief or all joy, and Karaoke lets the listener revel in this complex balance of tears and laughter. So sip the bitter dram and lose control in the dream, but don’t forget that, ultimately, this is your life.
Watch/listen above.
Karaoke will perform on Sat., July 20 at the Irrelevant Music Festival at the EARL alongside Neighbor Lady, Material Girls, Gustaf, and Pike Co. Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission is $12. 21+ to enter.
More Info
Bandcamp: karaokeatl.bandcamp.com
Instagram: @karaokeisaband