I am old enough to remember when Wieuca declared they were going on an indefinite hiatus. Or at least that’s what I thought they announced because my brain is a sieve and apparently I struggle with basic reading comprehension. As it turns out, Athens’ favorite changelings were discontinuing live performances for the foreseeable future. Studio recordings would continue, which clears up my confusion at coming across last month’s collabo track with Boothlord of Danger Incorporated. I never could quite pin this band down.
So it’s no surprise that the group’s latest single and video is a bit of a mind melt. Musically, their patchwork aesthetic has never felt more diaphanous and airy. Aside from a stuttering beat, there’s not much surface to cling to. The vocals feel distant, floating into the ether on a cloud of pillowy synths and delicate pedal steel courtesy of Cannon Rogers (Susto, Cannonandtheboxes). The atmosphere, such as it is, is dreamy yet forlorn, like an Ambien-fueled sleepwalk through a dark shadowy mist.
Directed by T.C. Barrera and produced by Big Pond Pictures, the video for “Cleric” scans like a lo-fi episode of Black Mirror. It’s clear the protagonist exists in some sort of simulated delusion. From the inside of a garbage-strewn storage space they waste away, watching old footage of a loving partner they can’t let go of. Soon the lines between dream and reality become blurred, allowing some measure of contact, real or imagined, between the two lovers. But it’s not enough. As the simulation ends, it’s revealed the partner was once real but is no longer living. In the final frame we see their fading apparition bidding goodbye, although one gets the sense the delusion isn’t over. As long as hope remains, the mourning may never end.
In a statement, Wieuca explained the concept behind the release as follows: “‘Cleric’ is a story about missing someone so much that you try to create the perfect dream in hopes that their memory will make an appearance. That’s the only way you’ll see them ever again.”
Watch/listen above.
More Info
Web: wieucamusic.com
Bandcamp: wieuca.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @wieucaband
Instagram: @wieucallc
SoundCloud: @wieuca
Twitter: @wieucaLLC