The new video for Heaven Forbid, taken from The Lion And The Wolf’s upcoming second album, ‘The Cardiac Hotel’, was filmed solely in the Ventnor / Bonchurch area on the Isle of Wight. Two local pubs and the spooky night time streets of Bonchurch, which are pretty much silent at night were used in the filming.
The concept behind the video sees Daniel Trevenna play a ‘Lucifer’ antagonist character who is referred to as ‘The Suit’. The story being, he is attempting to take the human race down to hell / somewhere unpleasant, one by one, by placing a chess piece in front of the victims who are staying at ‘The Cardiac Hotel’. Also known as Thomas George, the singer said: I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but perhaps it’s a reflection of how tempted I have been in the past to put music aside and go get a normal ‘suit’job’
Luke Bridgeman was once again behind the camera, after previously working with The Lion And The Wolf on 2015’s Ghosts On Trinity video.
‘We had such a good time making the video with Luke. Luke is a very talented director and we had such a good time doing ‘Ghosts on Trinity’ it made sense to use the same team as before.’
Watch The Lion And The Wolf’s Heaven Forbid below.
Xtra Mile will release The Lion And The Wolf’s second album, The Cardiac Hotel on 7th October 2016. Preorders are now available on CD, LP and download with digital orders receiving the track ‘Find The Time’ instantly.
Xtra Mile’s first contact with The Lion and the Wolf was back in 2014 as Rob Lynch’s choice for Xtra Mile High Club Vol.5: Smokin’ (Signed vs Unsigned), where XMR artists chose their favourite unsigned acts to join them on this huge label compilation. Impressed by his DIY outlook and mesmeric songs, XMR followed Thomas’s journey up to this point.
Since quitting the kind of life lived by the rest of us in January 2014, Thomas has played over 300 shows, supporting labelmates Rob Lynch, Northcote and PJ Bond, among others, as well as appearing at Slam Dunk, Isle of Wight Festival, 2000trees, Blissfields, Fest and Hevy. He released his debut album Symptoms late 2014, a full-band affair crafted from analogue sounds. Comparisons to Elliot Smith and Simon & Garfunkel followed, as well as more shows and more opportunities to revel in community and friendship.
Second album, The Cardiac Hotel was expedited and creatively driven by Thomas’s dad getting sick, the songs pouring forth as they tend to do when a loved one’s future is uncertain. It’s hard not to listen to The Lion And The Wolf’s second album and not feel a little of that seismic shift yourself. If you don’t feel it in the billowing organ chord that begins Don’t Fail Me Now, then it’ll fill you on My Fathers Eyes. The reverb weight blurring the edges, seemingly disintegrating Thomas’s voice, brings pathos to the urgent, searing sounds that brew underneath.
Violins, brass and lyrics that break upon the softest ears and hearts like waves, particularly on The Pinching Point (‘All the time struggled to breathe, now she doesn’t have to grieve at the finish line’), while pianos and seething strings seem to bellow over the gentle finger picking and clicking drums on closer Find the Time.
It feels fragile while wrapping itself in strength of heart, a certain courage needed to bare the soul or strip down to honesty. The Cardiac Hotel is still warm though, never feeling disconnected from the listener, probably because of the lack of digital interference. And that’s important because The Lion and the Wolf is all about intimacy and understanding.
You’ll never be alone with The Lion and the Wolf, and you’ll never have to feel that way now you’re part of the pride and pack.
TRACKLISTING
1. Don’t Fail Me Now
2. Heaven Forbid
3. My Father’s Eyes
4. The Hospital Floor
5. Walk On The Moon
6. The Pinching Point
7. Barstools
8. December
9. Past The Point Of Fair
10. Witness
11. Find The Time