Heartbreaking Bravery

This week, like just about any other in 2015, has been enormous for music. Since this site’s coverage was entirely dedicated to live coverage over the course of the past 7 days, these next two posts will be focusing on the great new material that saw release during that time frame. Starting with the full streams, there was no shortage of spectacular releases, including new entries from Ronnie Stone & The Lonely Riders, Doubting Thomas Cruise Control, Gardens & Villa, Places to Hide, Jesse Payne, Morly, Frau, The Barreracudas, Pawns, and Sieveheads. Music videos had a week just as strong, one that included great clips from the likes of La Lenguas, The Arcs, Noveller, Youth Lagoon, This is the Kit, Lithuania, Vundabar, Joanna Newsom, Palm, White Reaper, and Palehound. Of course, it also included the incredible featured video from site favorites Dilly Dally.

Just over a month ago, “Desire” was covered at great length on its own merits as a standalone single. Now that the band’s got the advantage of a visual medium, they can start hammering home some of Sore‘s driving thematic elements. “Desire”, specifically, is grounded with a through line about sexual release- something that comes to the fore through sensuous lighting, a color palette that’s frequently tinted white, and suggestive imagery that balances the beautiful with the mundane. There’s an emphasis on repetition and motion, which- combined with the provocative whites that dominant the video’s middle section- act as perfectly analogous to the song’s original conceit.  It’s a stunning, elegant work that complements the song to a sublime perfection and isn’t afraid to shy away of the difficult, ordinary aspects that help humanize an otherwise otherworldly experience.

Watch “Desire” below and pre-order Sore from Partisan here.