Afro-rock fusion artist Immy Owusu has dropped his debut music video, a glorious and highly stylised blast from the past. Dead Celebrities (Dancing With Vacuum Cleaners In TV Commercials) is teeming with cliché music parodies, demented cartoon creatures, and Simpsons references.
Immanuel Kwabena Dreessens-Owusu (Immy Owusu) is an Australian multi-instrumentalist of Dutch and Ghanaian heritage. He’s the former drummer for young indigenous powerhouse Yirrmal and indie outfit Children of the Sun. Now, the artist is busy making a name for himself with his band Magic Butter Machine in tow.
A growing interest in his heritage and the origins of rock and roll led Immy to travel to West Africa. Studying with grandfather Koo Nimo, a renowned Ghanaian musician, Immy returned with to Australia with his quirky afro-rock style. Taking shape from various blues, roots-rock, reggae and highlife influences, Immy also draws on his immersion in the coastal music scene.
Dead Celebrities (Dancing With Vacuum Cleaners In TV Commercials) is a clip cheerfully bright and clever in its execution. It marks an exciting debut music video from Immy Owusu.
Directed by Reilly Archer-Whelan, the clip follows a performance from Immy Owusu’s Magic Butter Machine in the style of a children’s television program. Like Play School with a drip of psychedelia, the music video features all the inflatable saxophones, charismatic vocals and self-awareness you could ask for.
As an avid fan of The Simpsons, the artist found inspiration for Dead Celebrities from one of his favourite episodes titled, When You Dish Upon a Star.
Taken from Immy Owusu’s Narcissistically Self-Titled and Debut EP, the track delivers some seriously warped nostalgia that you won’t be able to tear yourself away from. Bursting with good vibes and a command of genre fusion, the jam will lodge itself inside your head and play on loop (chicka-bom, chicka-dee!).
Immy Owusu’s Narcissitically Self-Titled and Debut EP is out now across major streaming services. Be sure to catch the band at their Dead Celebrities video launch during the dates below.
June 22 – Beav’s Bar, Geelong – Details
June 30 – Bar 303, Northcote – Details
