Brisbane five piece Alt Art rockers, Big Dead, are dropping the disturbing video for their new single, Sad Machine today, and it’s a look inside a world of strange, and undesirable occurrences.
Directed and written by Kate O’Sullivan, the film is a fascinating, albeit slightly terrifying trip through the Australian outback. As lead singer Cam’s body is dragged through the bush and buried, the brass section that, without visuals, could have embodied any number of emotions now becomes utterly disturbing and creepy.
Meanwhile, the groove-heavy rhythm section builds an intensity that seems inescapable. Kate O’Sullivan, a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on, has created a genuine, admirable piece of art. While that may sound contrived, and it probably is, in 2016 it’s relatively difficult to find a music video that’s worth watching once, never mind multiple times.
Brisbane six-piece, Big Dead, throw our conscious under the dirt, in mind boggling new video for Sad Machine.
Playing with social conventions, and gender stereotypes, O’Sullivan manages to squeeze a thesis’ worth into the three minute clip. While the subject matter here is darker than the Addams Family , it’s also incredibly beautiful, and really does touch a nerve. There’s a guarantee here that you’ll be at once extremely drawn to, and very weary of the Australian outback.
It’s all backed up by Big Dead’s very impressive ability to create textural layers of music that you could spend hours picking apart. Inspired by the Rock ‘n Roll, and Jazz worlds, the disparate influences they pull together create the foundation for something that is at once catchy and intricate, beautifully executed, alluring, and musically thought-provoking.
After more than six years together the band have released two EPs, and if Sad Machine is anything to go by, they’ve found the perfect balance between providing feelings of elation, and producing melancholy vibrations. Yes, that rhymed, it fit together almost as well as Sad Machine, and the accompanying music video.
The track is taken from the band’s upcoming third EP Shell, and it’s a taste of exciting things to come from the impending release.
Shell is out on July 27th, and is being launched at The Foundry on July 28th, the evening after its anticipated release to the public. Get keen!
