THE BRAVE FACES, Brighton post-punk/indie band, have released their DIY video for debut single, ‘In the Dark’.
Filmed in a single day in rural Sussex, the band planned the video as a combination of suburbia’s grimy underbelly in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, the long picturesque zoom-out landscapes of Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, and the nonlinear experience of Stan Brakhage’s Dog Star Man.
The video for In the Dark reflects the themes of illusion and untruthfulness explored in the song – with a veneer of idyllic landscapes, shimmering lights and dreamlike colours attempting to mask a murky underside. It’s otherworldly and uneasy, but familiar at the same time.
“We wanted to recreate the feeling that there’s something not quite right in the picture, even though it appears perfectly nice,” says the band. “The colour masks don’t quite fit, it’s in slow-mo and you’re not quite sure what’s really going on. It’s also a bit absurd – the ducks, the over-the-top colours. It’s meant to draw you in, but leave you with the impression that something’s off. We filmed and edited it last autumn, but we think it works well, especially watching it in the current context. Staying indoors, the outside world seems strange.”
Influenced by 80s post-punk, shoegaze and contemporary indie, THE BRAVE FACES push forward bristling melodies and sweeping soundscapes. Wiry, melodic guitars layer driving industrial drums. ‘In the Dark’ features glimmering chords, dreamy synths and palm-muted melodies – providing a stark soundscape for the singer’s cold commentary. The backing singer’s reverberating falsetto adds to the overarching feeling of uneasy catchiness.
“In the Dark explores power within a relationship,” says the band. “They’re delivered from the perspective of someone offering up fumbled clichés as apologies, desperately trying to save face after the latest in a series of breaches of trust.”
‘In the Dark’ is the first of three tracks recorded by THE BRAVE FACES with Dave ‘Izumi’ Lynch (Toploader, Jake Bugg, The Magic Numbers) at Echo Zoo Studios in Eastbourne. THE BRAVE FACES will release their next two tracks, ‘Lots of Nights Out’ and ‘It Takes a While’, in the coming months. All three tracks were mastered by sound engineer Pete Maher, who has worked with U2, Pixies and Nick Cave.