Collapsing Scenery have released their new video for Common Cause today, the second track to be released from their upcoming debut UK release, God’s Least Favorite EP available on 23rd September.
Singer Reggie Debris said: ‘The song Common Cause deals with the limits of compromise and the inevitable complications that arise when we make bedfellows for reasons of political expediency.
‘To us, the imagery in the video paints those tensions in terms of the body and its relationship to space; the body as an individual entity vs the body as part of a communal whole, and what it means to navigate those identities within a space that’s progressively collapsing or falling apart.’
You can can check out the song below!
Directed by Alix Vernet and Paige Elkington this July in a disused 70s hotel in downtown LA, the Common Cause video presents a violent ballet of abstraction and obfuscation. In the inevitable tension between the communal and individual body, everyone is complicit; who is the viewer, who is the performer? Where do we move? Can we protest?
Varnet said ‘In terms of movement, the video is formally inspired by trauma response (what bodies look like when responding to an earthquake, for example), protests, and the way performers look while getting ready in the mirror/
‘We’ve also been looking at Pina Bausch’s Blaubart and Nijinska’s Les Noces as inspiration for group vs individual dynamics.’
Made up of NYC guitarist Don De Vore (Ink & Dagger, The Icarus Line) and LA singerReggie Debris, Collapsing Scenery bonded whilst watching news of predator missiles rain on Middle Eastern heads. As TV stations poured out obscene coverage, the duo assembled a stash of analog electronics: samplers, step sequencers, synths and drum machines, all supplemented by effects pedals. Following the addition of Chris Colley(who previously held sticks with The Strokes’ Albert Hammond and School Of Seven Bells), the trio started looking further afield, built their own sound system to recreate and expand on their studio work in a live environment and will be heading to London for live shows this month.
Collapsing Scenery offer a new vision for how a modern band can be. They’re not even a
band – they’re curators of a series of planet-planning events, expressions, exhibitions, albums, installations, journeys, adventures and parties, all operating outside of the confines of the tired, traditional industry.
God’s Least Favorite EP will be released on vinyl and digital download via Metropolitan Indian Records on September 23rd with a drum remix from Diamond Terrifier and M. Baharie Cliff and another from The Big Pink.
Pre-order the vinyl and downloads at their online shop and look out for Collapsing Scenery playing live in the UK at the following shows.
September live shows:
Fri 23rd: London- Rough Trade East
Mon 26th: London- The Jazz Cafe*
Tue 27th: Bristol- Thekla*
Wed 28th: Manchester- Deaf Institute*
* Supporting The Black Queen
EP Track list:
Metaphysical Cops
Common Cause
Theme from Fellow Travelers
Tired Blood