Heartbreaking Bravery

For the past few years, this site’s paid close to attention to the work being done by Kindling, one of the more promising names in the new wave of shoegaze acts that have been releasing exceptional music. Stephen Pierce, one of the band’s guitarist/vocalists, has emerged as a source of inspiration in those times. Overcoming injury and contributing to items that aimed to make a positive change. Character is often reflected in music so it’s no surprise that Kindling’s has always been both reassuring and incredibly tantalizing.

The band released an outstanding full-length entitled Everywhere Else just a handful of months ago and are releasing an appropriately retro-minded clip for one of the record’s highlights, “Black Eye”. Using hazy overlays and strange coloration, the band invokes memories of a variety of classic ’90s clips from shoegaze, grunge, and downer punk acts. Fittingly, the visual approach also speaks to the narrative of “Black Eye”, which is driven by feelings of alienation and despair.

That sense of sadness permeates through every frame of “Black Eye”, even as the Alle Kern-directed clip eventually settles into determined resilience. “Black Eye” is a smoky, nostalgic, emotional gut-punch that never feels its length. Kindling’s constantly in the center of the tornado that’s perpetually swirling around them and the clip somehow illustrates, at least in part, how at home they are in those surroundings. Incredibly compelling and even a little thought-provoking, “Black Eye” is the band at their best. Why take shelter when you could get swept up in the fray?

Watch “Black Eye” below and pick up Everywhere Else here.